Aftermath
by thomthom830
Summary: A post-Civil War, sequel to Hide & Seek. Where do you turn when you've burned all your bridges? Wanted as criminals, what will Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers do in the wake of their choices? Rated T/PG-13 for some sweary language and maybe some adult situations later on... Please read & review!
1. Prologue

Author's note: Welcome to my sequel to Hide & Seek. This is definitely post-Civil War and it is FULL of spoilers, so if you're reading this and you haven't seen the movie yet, ye be warned!

I hope you all enjoy it! If you do, please leave me a review and favorite/alert!

And as always, I don't own _anything_ related to Captain America.

*Aftermath*

Prologue

It had been approximately 16 days, 12 hours and 47 minutes since she'd met him in Germany to get the gear back to him and Sam Wilson. She'd known it was a risk that when she took it, it would mean the end of her career with the CIA and, more than likely, what she had done would be considered an act of treason against both the US and the newly ratified Sokovia Accords. Sharon Carter: criminal. It had never been her intention to have that title, but her Aunt Peggy would have probably come back to haunt her (Sharon wasn't so sure she believed in that or not, but didn't want to chance it) if she didn't help Captain Steve Rogers.

When Sharon had been accepted into the CIA two years ago, just a short three months after signing their lease on their apartment in Chicago, Steve told her she needed to go. She'd hesitated, of course, but he'd made several very good, and logical, arguments as to why she couldn't pass up the chance.

 _Two years ago…_

"And what about you and I, Steve?" she asked.

"You and I will…we'll always be _us_ ," he smiled.

"That doesn't mean anything, you know that right?" Sharon replied.

Seated on their couch, Steve pulled her into a tight hug and just held her for a while, neither of them saying anything.

After a long while of silence, Sharon finally spoke.

"I don't have to go," Sharon said. "I love you, Steve. We could…"

"Sharon, I love you, too. And that means I want you to be happy. You'll never be happy just holed up in this apartment. I know you miss SHIELD. And Chicago is so far away from your family," Steve said. "You have to take this opportunity. The Agency clearly knows that they'd be foolish not to accept you into their ranks. And Tony's been making more and more comments about this new Avengers facility in New York. He wants to have us all centralized so we can be ready to go."

"Are we breaking up? Is that what's happening?" Sharon asked, a telltale tear fell down her cheek.

Steve wiped it away gently with his thumb.

"It's not a break-up. It's more…a pause. For when the time _is_ right. You know as well as I do that my timing has always been bad," Steve smiled. But Sharon could tell he was having a hell of a time, too, despite the smile on his face.

"You have got to be the nicest person that's ever broken up with me, Steve Rogers."

"It's a pause," he replied. "You and I will…"

"And if the time is _never_ right again?" Sharon said. "If we'll always simply cross paths now and then?"

"Then those will be the _best_ days ahead."

Sharon totally lost it at that point and sobbed uncontrollably into Steve's shirt for the remainder of the evening. When she'd finally got control of herself that night, they'd made love one last time.

The following morning, Sharon let the CIA know that she'd accepted the position on their team and both Steve & Sharon packed up their few personal belongings amongst the recently purchased furniture and décor of their Chicago abode and said their good-byes. Sharon was picked up only a few hours after her acceptance of her new job and texted Tony to let him know what was going on between the two of them.

And until two weeks ago, when her Aunt Peggy had passed away in her sleep, that was the last time her path had crossed with Steve's.

Sure, they'd texted now and then, but both of their jobs kept them busy in different parts of the world. She'd talked to him after the events in Sokovia; she'd needed to hear that he was okay. And Sharon had been keeping in touch with Tony, her godfather, and Nat, because it was the usual. But for the most part, everyone was keeping to themselves.

Steve had wasted no time getting to London for Peggy's funeral. Steve had agreed to be a pallbearer without hesitation and Sharon's heart broke all over again when she'd seen the tears in his eyes while he carried her dear aunt into the cathedral.

News of the Sokovia Accords had broken the same time that Peggy had passed away. And Sharon knew, before she'd even talked to Steve, how he would react to them. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that both he and Sam Wilson wouldn't be signing them. And that didn't matter to them because the both of them were needed elsewhere during the huge ratification process in Vienna.

After the funeral, Steve had found her and the two of them clutched each other tighly in their grief. They'd gone out to get coffee and ended up talking for hours.

The spark between them, even though they hadn't been face to face in nearly two years, was still there. And Sharon was certain that they were going to wind up in her hotel room, rekindling things.

And sure enough, they'd ended up going upstairs, but she was on the phone with her boss while she paced back and forth. She was on the joint counterterrorism task force stationed in Berlin and the UN had just been bombed by an individual that was identified as James Barnes. Bucky. Steve and Sam watched the flat screen TV on the wall while Sharon rapidly fired off questions about the situation. Then announced that she had to go to work. Her Aunt Peggy would have to understand.

Everything else that she'd done after that; everything that would be career-ending wasn't even a choice she had to think about. She'd brought Steve and Sam along with her on the helicopter that came to pick her up and she'd managed to pass along the bit of intel she had. And that the order was too shoot on sight if and when Bucky was spotted.

She'd done her job while Bucky was trying to escape; she'd led Natasha and Tony straight to him. Sharon had joined the fight against Bucky; if she could bring him back alive, then they could continue their work with him. And in her fight, sure there was some recognition as to who she was, but he'd still thrown her into a table. Sharon had four broken ribs that made her wince in pain when she moved the wrong way.

Sharon had then also walked right into the evidence holding and taken both Steve's and Sam's suits as well as his shield. If she hadn't already gotten herself labeled a traitor, then this act surely did it. She'd met him, and Bucky and Sam, near the airport in Berlin.

"They'll come for you," he'd said.

Sharon had already made fun of his idea of a getaway car. It was old and small. And it was very enjoyable watching him unfold himself out of the driver's seat.

"I know," she'd smiled.

"Thank you, Sharon," Steve had said again.

And then they'd kissed. And all of the feelings they had for one another had come bubbling to the surface. And reluctantly, she broke away.

"I should go," she'd said.

Sharon knew she had to go right then and there because if she didn't, then she'd never go. And Steve had things to do and that man would never let her stay to help him fight.

That was the last she'd heard from Steve Rogers. She knew that he'd escaped a huge fight in the airport with Bucky while Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton and Scott Lang were all sent to the Raft. In all reality, she felt like she should be there, too, but alas, she was on her way back to the US before she could be extradited and tried for treason.

In the time since Steve and Bucky, and then Tony, had made it to Siberia, Sharon had gotten several voicemails from her godfather. She didn't regret helping Steve; she'd do it again in a heartbeat. She loved Tony dearly, but he deserved a warrant out for his arrest, too. The Iron Man and War Machine suits were some of the most deadly weapons of mass destruction ever created and then the upgrade into the Hulkbuster suit was like the original design on crack. He was using the signing of the Sokovia Accords to atone for his own sins, against the people of the world as well as Pepper Potts. When, without the creation of Ultron last year, the tragedy of Sokovia would never have happened. And without the work of the Avengers in Sokovia, many more people would have perished.

Sharon shook her head, in an attempt to clear up the jumbled thoughts that were running around. She'd made it to the safe house she'd kept all these years. Her aunt had always talked of the importance of having somewhere to go, somewhere safe, if she wanted, or _needed_ , to get away.

The place was a small cottage, set on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It was just ten miles north of a coastal town called Manistee. She'd gone there with her cousins when she was a little girl and with her first few paychecks combined with the money she'd saved over the years, she'd gone up there to have the small place built. As an adult, she'd consistently made the pilgrimage up there, to spend a few nights to regenerate and make sure the place was still standing. Sharon had made sure it was equipped will all the state of the art equipment, some non-expiring supplies, and personal care items, so she could make unexpected visits.

The sun was beginning to set and had cast quite the impressive glow on the water behind her place. She'd checked every nook, every cranny for signs that someone had found her out, but the fact that she never told anyone, even Steve, about the place combined with the fact that it was registered to a woman named Sydney Patterson, she'd found it untouched since her last visit.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief as she walked out the back of the cottage into the cooling sand. She sank down and planted her tired body on to the beach and watched the sun go down and the waves crash on the shore.

Sharon was finally beginning to doze off when her phone alerted her that she had another voicemail. She was using a burner phone currently and was having all of her messages forwarded to this one.

She hit play and Tony's voice filled the night air.

" _Listen, kiddo. I'm sorry…for everything. I really just need to know you're okay. Rhodey, in between cursing at me during his physical therapy sessions, was asking about you, too. I think I'm beginning to understand why you gave the CIA gig for something…or someone…you care about._

 _I know I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, and when I first heard that you'd helped Rogers and stolen his gear back for him, well, I…I was very upset. But I think I get it now, Sharon."_

There was a very long pause before Tony finished.

" _You…you don't need to tell me where you are. I promise that I won't track you down, but if you need me, I'm here. And if you wanted to let me know you're all right at some point, well, I would really like that._

 _I love you, little girl."_

Tony sounded like he'd choked up at the end and Sharon had certainly had teared up. She was happy to have heard from him, even though he sounded more depressed than she had heard him in a long time.

She typed out a text to him, but quickly deleted it. It didn't feel right. Not yet.

Sharon continued to sit in the sand until the sun had completely disappeared into the horizon. If she didn't go inside now, she would end up sleeping out on the beach, and normally that thought wouldn't bother her. But she knew she would be safe in the cottage.

She completely locked down the cottage and checked all the corners and closets again before she finally laid down on the couch. As she drifted off into an uneasy sleep, she hoped that the piece of paper she'd snuck to Steve back in Germany had been found by him, and him alone.

…

Author's note: so what did you think?! Let me know, you wonderful people!


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: hey! Thanks for coming here! Read & Review, please and thank you!

Aftermath

Chapter Two

Sharon Carter spent the next two days opening up the cottage and getting it cleaned up. She had no idea how long she'd be living there this time around, but she knew she wanted it to look nice again. She hadn't spent much time here in the last few years; it just wasn't as easy to get away as it had been before. She opened windows, went through cupboards and gave the place a good going-over with the cleaning supplies she'd picked up at the nearby convenience store. Sharon was glad she'd sealed her blankets and pillows well and put dust cloths down on the furniture because every surface had a thick layer of dust built up on it.

She was grateful for the distraction that the cleaning afforded her. Sharon remained focused on making the small-ish cottage into _home_. The place itself was no more than 900 square feet. But it had everything she would need. And it sat on ten acres of prime lakefront real estate.

It was one of her most favorite things in the world. Sharon had her aunt's blessing, and assistance, when it came to its design. Peggy had made sure that there were all kinds of safeguards in place that would keep her favorite niece safe. And Sharon was able to implement all these seemingly invisible safety measures with the single press of a button.

Sharon had just sat down on the couch with a tall glass of water when there was a knock on the front door. She checked the security cameras and found the wife of the man who looked after her place during the winter.

Sharon knew she was a mess, but she put a smile on her face and opened the door.

"Mrs. Samuels!" Sharon said, doing her best to look surprised.

"Sydney! It _is_ you!" she said before pulling her into a tight hug. "We just didn't know you were coming. We wanted to make sure it was really you. And you know you're supposed to call me Cathy."

"Come on in, Cathy. Let's catch up," Sharon said.

Sharon closed and locked the door behind her and she followed the older woman into the living area of the small home.

Cathy was early sixties, with short, brown hair that was greying at the temples. She had a beautiful smile that made everyone believe she was a lot younger than she was. And Sharon had always wished that her actual mom was more like this woman.

"You've been busy! When did you get in?" Cathy asked, looking around the newly cleaned place.

"Have a seat. I, um, got in two days ago? Maybe three? I've lost track. All the cleaning chemicals must have fried my brain or something," Sharon laughed.

"You normally don't come up here for a few more weeks. Your boss give you some early vacation days this year?"

"The boss and I had a slight disagreement and he's no longer in charge of my vacation days."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Syd."

Sharon shrugged. She'd practiced this conversation a thousand times and hell, she was a trained spy. Her espionage skills let her lie to anyone pretty damn well. One exception should be noted: she couldn't lie to Steve Rogers. He had the ability to see right through her.

"Eh, I wasn't too fond of that job anyway," Sharon replied. And that was the truth. She was totally fine with working for the CIA, but her dream job had been SHIELD. When that was over, she'd been devastated, so the rest didn't matter to her anymore.

"So, you'll be out here with us longer this year?"

"I'm thinking about something more permanent this time, actually," Sharon said. "I've always loved it up here."

"That would be wonderful! And I have some news, too. My grandson, Trevor, is going to be here next week. He's coming to work on his dissertation. The two of you…"

Sharon held up her hand. "I do really appreciate it, Cathy, but I'm not sure I'm ready to date right now. I'm sort of getting over someone still right now."

"Well, Trevor is very cute…he could be a good distraction."

 _And he's also a pompous blowhard_ Sharon thought to herself.

She'd had the misfortune of meeting him about five years ago when their paths converged while out running along the shore of Lake Michigan. He'd told her that her form while running was all wrong and dismissed her choice of 80s music that blared out of her headphones. Yeah, sure, he was good-looking, and had a charming smile. But he _knew_ all of that. Something about him made Sharon want to bathe in hand sanitizer. And Gary, Cathy's husband, had always told her that she ought to stay away from him. Sharon trusted Gary, a former SHIELD agent himself, and therefore, she avoided Trevor at all costs.

Sharon had continued her run after smiling politely and took off the beach in the stance she'd learned at SHIELD.

When she'd returned home, she'd put him through the SHIELD database, but nothing had come back. Dude didn't even have a parking ticket. Instead, Sharon filed him under creeper. And she didn't need any more creepers in her life.

"Oh, Sydney, he's a lovely young man. And he'd really be perfect for you."

Sharon had no secret identities that would mesh with Trevor. She had less than zero interest in him, even as a friend. And besides, she was definitely hung up on a certain captain still.

"Can I get you something to drink? I have water and whiskey. I haven't been shopping at the grocery store yet, so all I've got are the essentials," Sharon laughed.

"No, no thank you. I've got to be heading back, honey. But please do let me know if you change your mind and want to have a night out with Trevie. He's so sweet."

Cathy stood and headed for the front door while Sharon followed behind.

"I'm really pleased you're going to be here more often," the older woman said. "And get some rest, girl. You look exhausted."

"That's the plan, Cath. That's why I don't have the time for dates. I've got a lot of R&R planned for the next few weeks. And I'm planning on napping in my hammock out back as often as possible."

"You should come over tonight. We're doing a cookout, Gary and I. And you need some meat on these bones," Cathy said before jokingly poking Sharon in the ribs. Unfortunately, she found one of the sore spots. Sharon didn't cry out in pain, like she wanted, but the jab to her bruised ribs did cause all the color to drain out of her face.

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Cathy asked, her voice full of concern. "You went really pale."

"I just hurt myself cleaning earlier and just twisted the wrong way. I'm fine," Sharon lied.

"If you need anything, you just call okay? I _was_ a nurse in a past life. You've still got all our numbers, right?"

Sharon nodded. "I do. Thank you, Cathy. You tell Gary I said hello?"

"You come for dinner and tell him yourself," Cathy countered.

"Okay. That's great. What time should I be over? And what should I bring?"

"You bring yourself; don't worry about anything else. And I think we'll eat around seven. Is that all right?"

"It's perfect. Thank you."

Sharon let Cathy out and she moved back to her cleaning. She would need to do laundry so she'd have something mildly presentable to wear over there. She just hoped the long unused stacked washer/dryer unit would still work. She didn't have the cash to be making a lot of big appliance purchases – especially since _Sydney_ was the one identity the CIA didn't know of and Sydney only had one credit card at the present time.

She stripped down and tossed everything she had on into the washing machine and luckily, it started up. She made her way upstairs then to shower and find something to wear in the meantime.

Before Sharon knew it, she was scrambling to get over to her neighbor's place. She was glad it wasn't a formal affair and no one cared that she was a few minutes late.

Cathy allowed Sharon to help with some of the food preparation and soon she was seated across the table from Gary and next to Cathy. Gary was also in his early sixties. He had a kind face and a pleasant demeanor. But tonight, Sharon was certain that he was wearing a semi-worried expression and since he _was_ ex-SHIELD, she suspected he'd heard something.

During dinner, though, he'd managed to shake himself of the feeling and played along with Sharon's story. After dinner, while he built a bonfire, Sharon had the chance to talk to Gary alone.

"Are you all right?" He asked her. "I know all that junk going on with Cap and…"

Sharon stared out at the blue-green water. "I'm fine."

"The news is reporting that a Sharon Carter stole Cap and the Falcon's gear from the CIA's evidence lock-up in Berlin, got it back to the both of them, and now she's on the run. There is a warrant out for her arrest," Gary said in a nonchalant way.

"Oh?" Sharon replied.

"Some people are calling her a traitor," he added.

"Yeah."

"And some people are calling her a hero, too," Gary said. "They're happy that she helped out Captain America."

"What's your opinion on the subject?" she asked.

"I think that her aunt would be very proud of her and the choices she's made thus far," Gary explained.

"I'll bet that's what she was hoping," Sharon said.

"You've got things in place over there, right? And you're planning on keeping a very low profile while you're out in town?"

"Yep. I'm planning on it," Sharon told him.

"Well, you know I'll do anything I can to help you out. Your aunt was one hell of a lady and a great boss and you've inherited a lot of her qualities. Do you know what happened to Rogers or Barnes?"

Sharon shook her head. "I haven't been able to make contact. But I haven't really tried, either. Too risky."

A lot of people disappointed her when SHIELD fell; a lot of people that she'd counted as friends ended up being Hydra. Not Gary, though. Gary had retired long before all of the events in DC, but he had always managed to keep his ear to the ground. He'd been a faithful and decorated member of Aunt Peggy's direct security team, so it made a lot of sense that Sharon's safe house was built next to his property.

"You're going to be fine. A lot of news has broken, regarding the identity of the bomber of the UN and there are talks of a pardon for the men and who had joined Cap's side in battle," Gary said. "And I suspect you'd fall into that category, too."

Sharon shrugged and shook her head. "I know what I did."

"And your godfather, Stark – he's been in the news, too. Making all kinds of noise. I'm not sure he's still on his own side anymore."

"Tony's got a lot to deal with."

"How was the funeral?" he changed the subject.

"Beautiful. Classic. Just like her. Aside from the fact that it was _her_ own funeral, Aunt Peggy would have loved it."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be there," Gary said sincerely.

"It would have raised a lot of questions. She knew you would have come if you could," she patted him on the shoulder.

…

That night, Sharon had managed to find her way back in the dark, across the 10 acres of woods without falling down the steep bluff that was on one edge of the property. She was glad to have had someone to talk to about things; someone unbiased, but still in the loop.

But as Sharon approached the cottage, she noticed a light on inside that she had not left on when she left earlier.

Cautiously, she drew her gun and headed for the side door.

She opened it silently and in bare feet, she walked across the cool tiled floor of the kitchen.

The light was on in the small living room and in the corner of the room, a figure was sleeping sitting up. She knew who it was, even as the light cast a shadow across his face and most of his body.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding and put her gun away. The man was immediately alert a second later.

"I almost totally disregarded these coordinates," the voice said. "And then I recognized your handwriting."

"I was afraid you'd lost them," Sharon replied.

He rose from the chair slowly and all 6'2" of Captain Steve Rogers closed the small gap between the two of them so he could kiss her. He pressed his lips to hers and nothing else mattered.

When they broke apart for air, Sharon sighed contentedly for the first time in the last two years.

"I almost shot you, you know," she told him.

The two still hadn't let go of one another and Sharon had rested her cheek against Steve's broad chest. She felt his laugh before she heard it.

"Okay," he chuckled. "My IOU list is really, really long now," he said.

"Honestly, the fact that you're standing here – I think we should just consider our debt square," she smiled.

…

Author's note: Much thanks, as always, for reading the chapter. Let me know if you liked this chapter! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 2

Aftermath

Chapter Two

He'd forced himself to leave Wakanda. He knew that things would be eaier if he just stayed there – and King T'challa had told him he could stay as long as he felt necessary. But none of the choices that he'd made the last few weeks had been the easy ones, so he didn't plan on starting now, either.

Bucky was back. More than he'd been since they'd taken down the Red Skull two years ago. And he'd since been returned to his cryogenic state, until the king could figure out how to undo what Hydra had done.

Steve had gotten his friends out of the Raft, too. That prison, out in the middle of the ocean, was meant for the worst of the worst – not the good guys, not his friends. And lastly, he'd written a heartfelt letter to Tony Stark and wondered if Tony would reach back out to him someday.

The two men had nearly killed one another that day in Siberia. Something had stopped the both of them; and despite the word that Tony used, saying they weren't friends anymore, Steve knew deep down neither believed that. However now, Tony had Steve's shield. When Tony told him he didn't deserve it, Steve didn't agree, but he'd dropped it out of both anger and as a white flag.

When Steve was ready to head out of Wakanda, he'd gone through the few belongings he had with him and he found a folded piece of paper in the one of his pockets. He almost simply threw it away, but something made him unfold it and read it.

In an instant, he'd recognized the precise strokes of Sharon's handwriting. A location. And before he thought anymore and potentially talked himself out of it, Steve began his plan to get to those coordinates.

The sun had all but set when Steve found the tiny, out of way cottage set a ways back off of the road. He was exhausted; he hadn't slept in two days, but as he looked at the house, he could tell it was all Sharon. There was no doubt in his mind that she'd designed it.

He had no trouble entering the property and when presented with a keypad, he was able to access the home easily. He was both relieved and shocked that there was no consequence when he walked inside.

He'd dropped his things and plopped unceremoniously into one of the overstuffed arm chairs in the small living room and promptly fell asleep. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep, but he didn't care much because when he opened his eyes, he was looking straight at Sharon Carter.

They'd stayed up long into the night, just talking. No plans were made; they were not ready to figure out tomorrow or next week. They just focused on the present.

When the two of them were just blindingly exhausted, Sharon led them up to the cottage's one bedroom and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

…

When Steve Rogers awoke the next morning, he found himself alone and for a moment, he was totally disoriented. He looked around and then remembered where he was. In the daylight that was coming through the windows, he finally had a chance to survey the room. The bedroom, with the exception of the bathroom and closet, took up the entirety of the second floor. The ceiling was open to the peak and was all wood paneled. It was very much the traditional cottage-style. And he found it very well-suited for Sharon.

For the first time in a long time, he found himself relaxing. He knew that the two of them were actually safe, if only for a short period of time.

Steve knew nothing about Manistee, Michigan. And he'd not known that she even had this place. But he hoped he could have the chance to recuperated bit before he knew he would be called out again.

He rose from the bed and listened for sounds from downstairs to indicate Sharon's presence. He was silent for a moment, and didn't hear anything. Steve decided he would take a shower and try to work out some of the knots in his muscles.

After spending far too long in the shower, he exited the bathroom and found new clothes lying out on the bed. It was certainly nice to be able to have someone in his life like Sharon, but she didn't need to do that. He would have managed somehow, but at the present, he had no idea how that would have worked.

The smell of food made his stomach rumble and he dressed quickly in what was left out for him before heading downstairs. Sharon was standing at the stove, making breakfast. Without hesitation, he walked to her and kissed her.

"Thank you," Steve said.

She smiled and one eyebrow went up. "For what, Captain?"

"For…everything. For a clean shirt and a roof over my head. For just…"

"Oh, don't get all sappy and sentimental on me, Steve, I can't take it. I really don't think I can handle it," Sharon laughed before wincing as the pain of the broken ribs shot through her.

"Let me see," he said. And it wasn't a request.

She moved a step towards him and held her arms out, away from her sides. Steve gingerly lifted the cotton tank top from her side and exposed her abdomen and ribs. And a faintly purple and green bruise on her right side.

"How many are broken?" Steve asked.

"Three. At least, I think three. Could be more. I haven't exactly had the time for proper medical treatment," Sharon said. "What about you?"

"T'challa had enough medical staff on site for us. Buck and I, we were fixed up," he said, before pulling her shirt down once more. "We should see about you…"

"I'm fine," Sharon said. "I just forget sometimes and…well, you know how it is."

Steve nodded. He did understand. He spent a lot of his time healing. It didn't matter that his body healed faster than most peoples. A broken rib, or three, still hurt.

"So what are you cooking? It smells fantastic," Steve asked, peering over her shoulder.

Sharon turned and was nose to nose with him. "It's just scrambled eggs and bacon, Steve," she said, a faint blush in her cheeks.

At that precise moment, it didn't matter that they'd been a couple that they'd lived together for several months, or even that they'd slept together. It was (almost) perfect; they were finally together, playing house and no one was going to bother them because no one knew where they were.

"Your injuries…from Tony, I would surmise?"

Steve nodded imperceptibly.

"I'm really okay, though. T'challa was even going to see about doing something for Buck's arm. For when he comes out of the cryogenic stasis next.

Sharon nodded. She wasn't any happier than he was that Bucky was back in his deep freeze. But he _was_ right; without completely removing the Hydra programming, he would always be a weapon.

"Have you talked to Tony?" he asked.

"No."

"He's your godfather. And the closest thing you have to family that gives a damn," Steve said.

"Whose side are you on?" Sharon asked as she split the scrambled eggs into two helpings.

His face was cold, emotionless. "I was never on a side."

"Steve, I know. And I apologize for my very ill-timed joke. It was not a good one," Sharon said.

Steve shook his head. "No, I'm – sorry. Just – if you want to talk to Tony, you should."

"He's left me a few voicemails. The messages range from angry to sad to apologetic to just downright pleading.

"Then you should call him. Let him know you're okay. He'll want to know. And he won't stop until you let him know."

"I know."

"And that's a good thing, Share."

"I just don't think I can help him through this one. He needs to figure it out on his own. I know he thought that his signing of the Accords would be atonement for his past transgressions. And he is now realizing that it isn't."

"He found out about his parents. He found out that Buck was sent after them. He saw the camera footage."

"What?" Sharon replied, shocked.

"It pushed him over the edge. And I should have told him a long time ago, but – I thought I was sparing him."

"Steve, you were. You did."

"No, I don't think I did. I was sparing myself from the conversation that I didn't want to have, Sharon," Steve said, before reluctantly accepting a fork from her.

"You need to eat, Steve."

"You know how this will all end. I'm going to have to turn myself in," Steve said.

"Not today, you don't. And not tomorrow. We'll see what happens in the next few days and we have some time to think."

"And you can call Tony and tell him you're all right. You're virtually his daughter."

"Well…"

A knock at the door startled the both of them. Sharon put down her fork and brought up the security camera on her tablet computer that was laying on the counter. It was Gary Samuels.

"It's my neighbor," she said.

"I'll just…I'll just go take my food upstairs," he said, retreating with his plate before Sharon could explain the situation.

She walked to the front door and opened it while wearing a warm smile. "Hi there!" she smiled.

"Cath sent me with this cherry cheese Danish. She said you haven't had a proper meal in a long while. She doesn't know just how right she is," Gary said. "And I'm not gonna tell her she was right. I'm just her delivery boy; I do what I'm told," he laughed.

Sharon laughed. "Well, thank her for me. Can I get you a cup of coffee?"

"Oh, no. I've had enough of the caffeine today," Gary replied. "Did you hear the latest on that Zemo guy?"

"The man that bombed the UN building?" Sharon asked. She knew Steve was listening; she was making sure he could hear well.

"He's confessed his entire plan. He's being evaluated to see if he is mentally competent to stand trial for the bombing of the UN, the resulting deaths and the murder of the doctor who had been assigned to evaluate Barnes. You and your pals should be cleared any day…"

"We still committed treason, according to the 100-odd countries that ratified the Accords," Sharon said.

Steve _had_ been listening intently to the conversation and at this point, he knew he'd need to join in. He slowly descended the staircase. Sharon saw him out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't try to stop him.

"Gary Samuels, I would like to introduce you to Captain Steve Rogers," Sharon said. When Steve gave her a confused look, she simply smiled. "You didn't give me a chance to explain," she answered his un-asked question.

The man held out his hand to shake Steve's. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

Steve was still confused.

"Gary was one of Aunt Peggy's personal security team, until they both retired from SHIELD 15 years ago," Sharon explained.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Samuels," Steve replied.

"Oh, geez, nice to meet me…" he laughed. "Hell, Cap, it's nice to meet you!"

Steve smiled at the 'older' gentleman.

"You didn't tell me that Cap was going to be here," Gary turned to Sharon.

"I didn't know," she replied. "I wasn't sure he would be joining me."

"Well, it won't be totally easy to keep a low profile, Cap, but it'll be okay," Gary said.

"It's not going to be a matter of a low profile, Gary. He won't be…"

"Around here, it won't matter, though. Just take care when you're out in town. I doubt anyone will recognize you, but…"

"Out in town? I don't think Steve will need to be visiting the tourist shops or anything, Gary."

"You think it'll be okay?" Steve asked Gary. "To go out?"

"Yep. Just don't call any unnecessary attention to yourself by lifting buses or anything."

"Bus-lifting is more of a Banner thing."

"You're certainly acting more like yourself, Steve," Sharon said.

"Let the man enjoy some of his time off, Sharon. Enjoy this time, Cap," Gary said.

"I wouldn't call this a vacation, but it would be nice to have some anonymity."

"Yeah – we'll see how that goes," Sharon replied.

"Well, at least you have a real excuse when Cath tries to fix you up with Trevor again. And you know she's relentless," Gary explained. "And my wife, Cath, doesn't know that I'm ex-SHIELD. And she only knows Sharon as Sydney. So start thinking of your cover name, Cap. Who should I tell Cath your boyfriend is?" Gary said to Sharon.

"We aren't – " Sharon began.

"We aren't?" Steve replied.

"Okay, the two of you have got to talk some more. Have fun with that," Gary smirked. "Just one more bit of advice from dear ol' me: leave the superhero stuff aside for a minute and figure out the two of you. You might not have another change for that."

Gary nodded to the both of them as a means of goodbye and he let himself out of the cottage.

"Do you think he's right?" Sharon asked.

"I think so…one question, though," Steve said.

"Yes?"

"Who is Trevor?" Steve asked.

…

Author's note: many thanks to those who read this story so far! Thank you for your reviews and the follows! Have a great night!


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you all you lovely people! Glad you like where this is going so far. So…here's the next chapter!

Aftermath

Chapter Three

Sharon Carter smiled as she walked down the aisle of a beautiful church. She was wearing a long, white dress and when she looked to see who had a hold of her elbow, she saw her own smiled mirrored on Tony Stark's face. She was mildly surprised it wasn't her father walking her down the aisle, but as he squeezed her hand, she forgot all about it and they continued their trip down towards the altar.

Looking up, she found Steve Rogers, not in military dress, but in a tuxedo that looked like it was made specifically for him. Next to him was his best man, Bucky Barnes. Officiating was Nick Fury, eyepatch and all.

Tony gave her away, to Steve, at the end of the aisle, and Steve proudly beamed at her. Were those tears in his eyes, though? Sharon was choking back her own tears as Fury started the ceremony.

It was a beautiful moment in time, but as Fury was asking if anyone opposed, they were interrupted by the doors to the church bursting open. Police in full combat gear rushed in towards them at the altar while guests panicked and screamed.

"Captain Steve Rogers! We have a warrant for your arrest…" one of the officers began to say.

Things went blurry from that point on as someone else was reading Sharon her own Miranda rights.

"Sharon…Sharon Carter…?"

She woke up in a panicked frenzy and realized it had all be a dream.

"Holy shit!" she muttered as she nearly fell out of the hammock she'd been asleep in.

"Should I ask what you were dreaming about?" Steve asked as he stood over her. He was waiting to see if she was going to need some assistance with the hammock and her balance.

She was far too embarrassed to tell him about their 'wedding' from her dream. She shook her head to indicate that no, she didn't want to talk about it.

"You've been out in the sun for a long time. Do you think you should either put some sunscreen on or maybe go inside?" Steve asked.

Regaining her composure, she smirked. "Thanks, _mom_ , but I think I'm going to stay out a while longer," Sharon said.

"You're going to be the color of a lobster with a thought process like that."

"Sunburn is the least of our worries, Steve," Sharon snapped.

"Okay, roast in the sun," Steve said from behind his sunglasses. "I'm going down to the lake. Would you care to join me?"

"Sure," Sharon replied. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just…"

"Whatever it is, you know you can tell me," he said. "I think we owe each other that much after everything."

"Ugh."

" _Ugh_?" Steve laughed.

"Yeah…ugh."

The two of them had fallen back into their (mostly) easy existence with one another. They enjoyed each other's company and they shared the mutual need to keep a low profile.

"So…beach? Water?"

"It's going to be fre-…you know what? Never mind," Sharon said.

Steve watched silently with an amused expression. "Were you going to say how cold the water is? I might be able to take it," Steve smiled.

"You need to cut that out," she laughed. "Quit being so funny. And cute."

"You think I'm cute?" he replied.

"Cut it out!" she said. "And I've _always_ thought you were cute. You know that," Sharon replied.

The two headed for the edge of the bluff that had its own staircase down to the water.

"Doesn't mean I ever get tired of hearing it," he said.

The two of them descended the 70 or so winding stairs from the top of the bluff down to the shore of the great lake. The sun was high in the sky and there were only a few white clouds dotted amongst the bright blue sky.

"This water is so clear," he said as he stood ankle deep in the water that was only about 50 degrees.

"You didn't expect one of my favorite lakes to be filled with sludge or something, did you?" she splashed him lightly with her foot.

"I don't know what I expected."

"You saw Lake Michigan from Chicago."

"But this is the whole other side," he grinned.

He walked in a few more feet, out into the slightly deeper water. The bottom few inches of Steve's shorts were now in the water.

"You mean to honestly tell me that you're _not_ cold?" Sharon asked. Sharon had followed him out into the deeper water and her whole body was totally covered in goosebumps.

Steve moved over to her and acted like he was going to hold her to warm her up, but instead, he picked her up and tossed her, without any warning, into the lake.

Sharon went down into the water, fully submerged for a full five seconds. She came back out and sputtered water while wiping the hair off of her face and out of her eyes.

"Seriously?" she shouted.

"Sometimes, you just have to go all in, Sharon," Steve said, laughing.

Sharon floated on her back for a moment as Steve looked on. A moment later, she'd caught him by the back of his knee and sent him down into the water.

"See, once you're in for a while, you don't even notice it," Steve said.

"Advice on cold water from _the_ Captain America himself…I should be so honored…" Sharon said sarcastically.

Steve brought his arm down to splash her and Sharon deftly jumped out of the way. Sharon retaliated by kicking water out in his direction.

"Oh...it's on now," Steve said, turning back in her direction.

Sharon laughed as Steve rose to his full height in the water above her. He launched himself at her.

They wrestled around in the water and Steve chased Sharon back into the shallow water at the shore. He rested his weight on his forearms as he leaned over her while the waves lapped at them. He bent down and kissed her, hard. Sharon reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"This…" Sharon said, breathlessly. "This is my white flag."

"Your surrender is noted," he said, his eyes not leaving hers.

In one move, Steve had lifted her into his arms. He carried her towards the stairs to go back up to the house.

"These stairs are not conducive to a romantic situation," Sharon laughed.

"Especially for a guy who is already pretty much romantically challenged," he replied.

"In my humble opinion, you're doing just fine," she said.

He got them to the top of the stairs in a record amount of time and they managed to make it to the house before they started to lose their clothing.

…

The Sun was just beginning to set when Sharon woke up from her second nap of the day. She quickly realized that she was alone in bed, but heard the sounds of the shower running in the bathroom. She thought briefly of joining Steve in that shower, but her stomach rumbled and she knew she had to eat something soon. She'd definitely worked up an appetite.

She moved and realized that she was as sunburned as Steve told her she'd be. He was _always_ right. And that thought made her slightly sad because she knew eventually, he'd turn himself in; eventually, he'd let the world make an example out of him.

But instead of focusing on that depressing notion, she dressed in some _very_ light clothing and went downstairs so she could make dinner and continue playing house with Steve Rogers.

Sharon was humming along to some random 80s tune on the radio when she heard a knock on the front door. She knew it had to be Gary again by the way the knock sounded, so she didn't pull up the security cameras. When she got to the door, though, she found Cathy on her doorstep.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, Sydney, but I was wondering if you had any eggs. I'm making a cake…"

"Don't you keep hens over at your place?" Sharon asked.

"They've been real _lazy_ the last few days and I forgot to pick some up at the store when I was in town," Cathy said.

Sharon knew that was a lie, but she decided to play along. "Sure, how many do you need?"

'Oh…I'd say…two or three?" she said as her eyes went wide.

Sharon turned to follow Cathy's gaze. Steve was shirtless and descending the staircase. He might as well have been naked the way she was ogling him.

"Oh," both Cathy and Steve said, for different reasons.

He pulled the shirt he was holding over his head and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm Jason," he held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Jason. I'm Cathy Samuels – Sydney's neighbor just to the south. Who – who are you to Sydney?"

"I'm her fiancée. She asked me to marry her and I just couldn't turn her down," Steve smiled proudly.

Sharon smiled but she was trying to mask her surprise at the words coming out of Steve's mouth.

"You certainly are – um…fit," Cathy commented.

"Thank you," Steve said as a blush started in his cheeks causing Sharon to laugh again.

"I should, um, get back to Gare – you, you…you didn't tell me about him," She pointed at Steve.

"I guess I…"

"Trevie will be so disappointed," Cathy said. "But it's nice to see you have such a… _strapping_ …young man in your life. It was always a shame to see you come here all alone over the years. That's why I wanted to hook you up with Trevor."

"Well, I really do appreciate it, Cathy. But now you understand my apprehension."

"So, dinner tomorrow night at our place? We're having fish because Gary is going to catch it. I make sure when he says he's going fishing he brings some home – don't want to see him just laying out in a boat all day," she laughed, and Sharon and Steve laughed awkwardly with her. They weren't sure if she was joking or not.

"Do you like fish?" she asked Steve.

He nodded.

"Oh, but Cathy, I don't think…"

"Oh, please, Syd," Cathy said. "Don't think for once and just do!"

"Here, here," Steve replied.

"Okay, I'm clearly outnumbered here. What time and what should we bring?"

"Let's say six o'clock and you two can be in charge of the wine. I'm terrible at wine pairings. See you two lovebirds tomorrow night!"

Cathy pinched Sharon's cheek and winked before she exited the house. Sharon smiled and locked up behind her.

"You impressed yet another person," Sharon said.

"Eh."

"Not a sound my ears are used to hearing from you," Sharon said.

"I'm not so hung up on impressing people. But I still want to do what I can for both my country and the world. And you."

It was Sharon's turn to blush.

"Well, you've defeated the Red Skull and Hydra, you've saved the planet from aliens and Ultron…"

"And now I'm a wanted criminal. And you are totally sunburned," he said as she turned into the light of the kitchen.

"Yep – you were right," Sharon said. "Again."

"Well…it doesn't take Dr. Banner to figure out fair skin plus laying out in the middle of the day equals sunburn," Steve said. "I wonder what he would think of all of this."

"He's used to it. He's been where you've been. Hunted down. Wanted for things that happened beyond your control."

"I can and did control the things in my situation. And I'd do it all over again. But…"

"Come on, you go get a fire started in the pit out back and I'll start some dinner. Don't start fretting now," Sharon said.

Probably redirecting his thoughts was not the wisest of things, but Sharon didn't want him to think about the real world for a little while longer. She hoped that if they didn't focus on it, a solution would come about – either figured out by them or the UN would pardon them. Maybe she was being naïve, but it didn't matter. She just wanted Steve to be happy, whatever that took.

Steve had retreated outside to start a fire in the fire pit that Sharon had on the property. It was like camping, really, but with real walls instead of a tent. And he had Sharon all to himself.

Steve figured he could spend the rest of his life like this. He had no one to worry about except himself and Sharon. She didn't expect much from him, just the occasional campfire, so far.

Sure, he'd miss his friends, especially Bucky. And he'd miss saving the world, but he wouldn't miss the BS and politics that came along with it. But maybe things would work out in the future.

Steve was crouched down, getting the fire going when he heard a rustling behind him. He whipped around, but he'd expected an animal, not a person.

"Those are some impressive reflexes you've got there," the man said. "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Trevor Samuels – Cathy and Gary's grandson. I just got up here. I'm a few days early," he said, talking non-stop. He was watching Steve and making him slightly uncomfortable. He extended a hand and Steve moved so the sun was behind him so it would impair Trevor's ability to see him. He didn't want to be recognized by this guy.

"Hey…Sydney!" Steve shouted. "She's inside, starting dinner. Sydney!" he called again.

Sharon came to the door and at first wore a confused expression for a moment. Then she realized why he was calling for Sydney.

"Hi Trevor," she said flatly.

"Sydney," the man smiled creepily.

"I thought you were going to be another week or so…"

"My plans changed. You look…cute but really sunburnt. You should seriously stay out of the sun, kiddo. You're going to wind up with skin cancer."

"Thank you, Trevor. I'll try to keep that in mind the next time," Sharon said through gritted teeth.

Steve knew something was off on this guy and he could not place it. Sharon had told him the guy was just creepy and until night right then, Steve had no idea what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."

"Jason," Sharon answered for him.

"Jason," Trevor repeated. "Hmmm. I would have thought something else suited you better."

"Well, that's the name my parents gave me," Steve shrugged.

"You really remind me of someone," Trevor said, squinting into the light to make out Steve's face again, but he failed.

"I get that a lot actually."

"Oh, man. All the time. It's annoying actually," Sharon smiled.

"So, Sydney," the man turned his attention back to her and her fairly scantily-clad body. "Did you get your running stance corrected? Or have you permanently injured your spine?"

"Her spine is just fine," Steve said protectively.

"Well, I guess I should go back – Grandma Cath was making me a welcome back cake and I don't Gramps to eat it all by himself."

With an awkward wave, the man jogged back off of the property, heading south to his grandparents' place.

"Something was off about that guy."

"Do you think he made you?"

"No. Maybe. I'm not sure. We'll need to keep an eye on him," Steve said.

"Like I said, I ran him through the system. He didn't have connections to…well, anything. He's just an asshole. A cocky asshole."

"Asshole or not, Sharon, we need to make sure we keep our eyes open with that one." 

"I'll talk to Gary to see if he notices anything weird. Well, weirder, with Trevor.

"I can't believe Cathy wanted to set you up with that guy."

Sharon laughed and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You just keep being cute when you're jealous, okay?"

"Jealous? No…"

"Yes…"

"Okay – maybe. But it was not nice the way that guy was looking at you," Steve said.

…

Over at the Samuels' place, Trevor was digging into the cake his grandmother had prepared for him.

"What did you think of Sydney's fiancée?" Cathy asked with a smile on her face.

"He's tall," he answered simply.

"Anything else?"

"Nope. I mean, he did remind me of someone, but I couldn't place him. I'm not sure…"

"Does the name _Steve Rogers_ mean anything to you?" Cathy asked.

…

Author's note: same old, same old…please leave a review and let me know if you liked it!


	5. Chapter 4

Author's note: I count myself very lucky that there are so many kind people that read what I write. I write for myself, because I seem to have so many ideas floating around my brain, but the simple fact that all you lovely, wonderful people are also reading this, well…thank you.

Please enjoy.

Aftermath

Chapter Four

Sharon Carter was a bundle of nerves as she drove them down the winding road that led to the city of Manistee. She was very concerned that someone was going to recognize one, or both, of them. She'd done a swift check of the internet to see if an APB had been issued for her as well, but so far she saw nothing. However, it was likely just a matter of time. She knew that they'd be after her sooner or later.

Steve Rogers, on the other hand, was content to leave the cottage, even as much as he liked it there. He wanted to explore the city; he wanted to be in the world with Sharon. In reality, Steve didn't want to hide. He didn't want the world to see him as a coward, who had retreated, but the in the same vein, he was having a good time living simply with Sharon.

"There's a casino out there now," Sharon pointed left as they waited for the traffic light. "The city has really grown up since then."

"What body of water is that?"

"That is Lake Manistee. It's connected to Lake Michigan by the Manistee River. We'll see that shortly," Sharon said.

Steve was wearing his disguise of choice: baseball cap and sunglasses. Sharon had her sunglasses on and before they'd left, she'd dyed her hair dark once more. The two of them looked like a typical tourist couple and Sharon really hoped that no one gave them a second look.

"You know a lot about this town," Steve said.

Sharon nodded as they continued down the road.

"I've been coming here for many years now. It just seemed right to learn what I could. And it's become a home away from home now," she replied. "And I guess I've worked as a spy for so long that it didn't seem so wrong to come up here and pretend that I belonged here."

"Honestly, it seems to suit you. And I knew by looking at the cottage that it was yours. Even just seeing it from a distance, I knew it was something you'd created."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely," Steve replied. "Where do you think we'll get the wine? I'm hoping to learn something myself. I've never been good at choosing one either," Steve finished.

"Well, I'm going to ask someone when we get there," Sharon laughed. "I'm not much of a wine drinker. But there is a winery-slash-brewery downtown. We'll get some good advice."

"How did you find this place?"

Sharon chuckled. "I used to come camping up here," she replied.

"Your family came camping up here? All the way from Virginia?"

"My mom's family is from Michigan. So, we'd come up here every so often. Her side of the family used to take us camping," Sharon replied.

"I learn something new about you all the time," Steve replied.

They continued down the road, over a bridge, and at the next traffic light, she turned right. It was a one-way with street parking.

"I guess I'm going to park us and we can walk. You can see the downtown area of Manistee," Sharon said.

She parallel parked the car on the street and the two of them climbed out.

"So, Sydney, show me around town," Steve said as he slung his arm around her shoulders.

For the remainder of the afternoon, Sharon and Steve walked around downtown. They went in the shops along the main street of the city. They had lunch at a restaurant that overlooked the river and watched the boats coming in and going out while they ate. It was a semi-chilly day, and the two of them had the deck to themselves and no one thought it was weird that they left their sunglasses on.

After a couple hours of wandering, during which Steve held tightly onto Sharon's hand the entire time, the two of them made their way back to the car with the wine for dinner that night.

"Do you want to go to the beach?" Sharon asked.

"Sure," Steve said. "I think I can get us back to the cottage; do you want me to drive?" 

"Oh, I'm fine," Sharon said. "No worries. Let someone take care of you for a while," she smiled.

"I'm certainly not used to that," Steve said. "I can see why you like Manistee," he said. "It's great here."

"I know," Sharon said. "I fell in love with it the first time we came here when I was like, I don't know, maybe nine or ten years old? It's just been…"

"I feel very lucky that you're sharing it with me," Steve said.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before…I just…"

"Hey," he cut her off while she was driving. "You didn't have to tell me anything, Sharon. You were making sure this was a place for a rainy day and unfortunately, that rainy day came. You know I've been thinking a bit, and…"

"I don't like where this is headed," she said flatly.

"I'm going to have to deal with everything sooner rather than later," Steve said. "I can't hide out forever," he finished.

"And what are you planning on doing?"

"I haven't totally decided yet. But I do now that it's going to have to be done. I'm not going to have any other options. They aren't going to pardon us; I can't bank on that happening."

Sharon nodded while she drove. "Yeah…that's unlikely, no matter what the news is saying."

"I just can't hope for that," he said. "But I don't plan on doing anything today, so…"

"So? I get to keep you for a few more days?"

"Sharon, no matter what happens, I'm yours…forever," he said.

The breath caught in Sharon's throat.

"Are you all right? Did I say something wrong?" Steve said.

"No…no…not at all," she replied. "I just don't think I know what else to say to that. I don't think I can say anything that sweet."

Steve chuckled slightly. "I didn't mean to…"

"No…I mean, I feel the same way."

"You do?"

"Do you really think I would commit treason for just anybody? There are only three people in the world I would do that for, well…two now. But you're one of them," Sharon said. "I love you. I've loved you for a long time. I'm not sure why I'm doing this while I'm driving," Sharon laughed. "I wish we weren't going over to the Samuels' for dinner tonight."

"Me, too," Steve said. "But we've already agreed…"

"You're not the kind of guy to fake sick and ditch out on dinner plans, huh?" Sharon asked.

Steve laughed. "Nope. Besides, this will give us a chance to keep an eye on Trevor. I'm curious as to what he's really doing up here."

"According to the information I found on social media, he really is up here working on his dissertation."

"He actually posted that he was up here working on that?" Steve said as they climbed out of the car.

"People post a lot of things online these days, S-Jason," Sharon said, catching herself before she said his full name out in public.

"And that's why it is so much easier to track people these days," Steve said. "What happened to just talking to people?"

"That…I can't answer for you. I grew up in a time of technology and over-sharing," she said.

"Somehow you've managed to not be an over-sharer," Steve said.

"Yeah, well, I've had a strong upbringing of keeping things close to my chest, despite having spent time with…my godfather…as a child," she said.

"Have you talked to him?" Steve asked while he grabbed a cart. When he got no answer, he added, "I'm going to take your silence as a no."

"I just…I didn't know what else to say," Sharon said. "He'll want to know wall kinds of details and I don't have any information I'm willing to talk about with him."

"Just tell him you're okay," he said while he was reading the aisle headings hanging from the ceiling. "That you'll give more information when you can."

"You know he won't take that as an answer. And he'll be trying to track my phone signal and keep me on the line. And I'm going to hang up on him; I'll have to. And he'll ask about you," Sharon said.

"There is the chance that he'll be able to do something for you. Maybe he can talk to Ross on your behalf and get you pardoned," Steve said in her ear.

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she replied. She turned her head quickly and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Grocery shopping has never been this much fun before," Steve smiled.

…

"You caught all of these fish today?" Steve, as Jason, asked Gary.

"Just call me the fish-whisperer," Gary smiled, as he put a couple of the filets on the grill.

So far, there had been no time for Sharon and Steve to talk with Gary alone. Cathy had constantly called Sharon to help with this or that and Steve had been locked into a conversation he didn't totally understand with Trevor. He'd been explaining the topic of his dissertation…something about the long-term effects of drugs on various domesticated animals. Steve wasn't sure why that needed to be covered in a research paper, but he also didn't have anything to add, so he half-listened as the guy talked about drugs that Steve hadn't even heard of.

Inside, Sharon was helping make a salad and was chopping vegetables while Cathy was mixing up her own dressing.

"I just think homemade Italian dressing just tastes so much better," Cathy said.

"Where did you learn to make your own?"

"Well, I was a stay-at-home mom while Gary traveled for work. I read a lot of books on cooking and eventually just started experimenting with this and that and _poof!_ I had the perfect Italian dressing! I mean, I am a bit biased and all, but…oh, well," Cathy explained.

Sharon continued to dice vegetables while Cathy talked.

"You and Gary have three kids, right? Where are they now?"

Cathy was quiet for a moment. "Well, Stacy, that was Trevor's mom, she died in a car accident when he was about ten. And his dad didn't want to marry Stacy way back when, so we took him in. And then we've got our two boys who are in Texas and Oklahoma."

"Trevor's dad didn't want to take him in, even when Stacy passed away? Didn't want to get to know his son?"

"You're full of questions tonight," Cathy replied.

Sharon knew that she was going to have to back off because Cathy was getting suspicious. But normally, Cathy was an open book and Sharon wouldn't have to ask a single question; it was always volunteered.

"I'm sorry, I'm tired and when I get tired, I get nosy," Sharon lied. She really wanted to figure Trevor out.

"You and Jason seem cozy. How long have you been engaged?" Cathy asked.

Sharon panicked. She realized that the two of them had not talked about that detail. And she had no clue what he would say.

"Oh…I…a while now."

"Plans for a wedding date?" Cathy asked. "Or where you'll be saying 'I do'?"

Sharon shook her head. "We haven't really rushed into any big decision-making yet. We probably should be figuring things out, but Jason and I are just enjoying each other's company."

"Cathy?" Steve popped his head into the kitchen. "Could I steal Sydney for a minute?"

"Of course! You two lovebirds scoot. I'll finish the salad," she said, hitting Sharon lightly on the rear with her oven mitt. "Go outside and enjoy the sunset."

Steve took Sharon by the hand and he led her to the edge of the bluff on the Samuels' property. They had a similar set of stairs that led from the top of their bluff down to the shoreline. The sun was just beginning to set and was casting a red-orange glow on everything around them.

"What's going on?" Sharon asked Steve in a concerned voice.

"Nothing," he replied. "I just needed a break from Trevor over there. He talks all the time and I just…"

Sharon kissed him on the mouth to cut him off.

"I'm feeling surprisingly better now," Steve replied when they broke apart. "I might be able to take another couple of hours."

Sharon took Steve by the hand and led him down a few of the steps. She directed him to sit and she took a seat next to him. And surprised him again by kissing him. They lost all track of time as they made out like teenagers and blushed a deep red when Gary came to find them to tell them about dinner.

Dinner conversation remained light, throughout the whole meal, and luckily, Trevor didn't talk any further about his studies.

"This wine is great," Cathy said, taking another healthy drink. "I'm just so awful at picking out wine," she finished.

"I am, too, Cath," Sharon replied. "I always use experts' advice. I mean, I know what I like, but I have no clue how to pair it with food to make the food pop."

"I guess I was oblivious and didn't even know that was a thing," Steve said. He thought back to his conversation about fondue with Howard Stark. There were still a lot of things he had to read up on, despite that he'd spent a lot of time using the internet to learn things.

"That's okay, S…sweetie," Sharon caught herself. "I'm never going to ask you to pair wine with food." 

"I'm not much of a drinker, anyway," Steve said.

"I'll bet it takes a lot to get _you_ drunk," Trevor said. "That might be a unique idea for a paper. Do you think I could study you?"

"Trevor," Cathy admonished.

"I'm flattered that you think I would even be a semi-interesting to study, but I don't think so, Trevor."

"You must be off the charts on health studies though. How often do you work out?" Trevor asked.

"Trevor, let the man eat," Gary said. "You're going to make him self-conscious."

"Yeah, he doesn't need his ego stroked," Sharon laughed. It was a huge joke, because Steve could have been the mayor of humble hill; he virtually didn't have an ego at all.

"No, it is okay, guys. I work out pretty much every day. Just not while I'm on vacation."

"You probably get your exercise in other ways," Trevor said under his breath in a morose voice.

"You need to watch your mouth, young man," Gary said in a stern voice.

"Here, Trevor, you should have some more wine," Cathy said, pushing a full glass at her grandson. He complied and drank the full wine glass down.

A moment later, he was chattering away again, as though a switch had been flipped and he was a different person.

Gary drank his wine, too, and started telling stories of his various fishing trips all around the world. Steve never touched his wine and watched Sharon do the same.

After dinner had been cleaned up, they said their goodbyes and Sharon and Steve made their way back to the house in the dark.

"Something was definitely up with them," Steve told her as he opened the side door for her. "I just don't know what it was."

"Yeah," Sharon replied. "I don't know, but I don't like it."

…

"You need to watch your mouth, young man," Cathy said as she paced the kitchen. "And you…you're going to be replaced."

Trevor was sitting quietly at the kitchen table but Gary was bound and gagged. His eyes were wide with fear as he watched his wife open the door to the third bedroom. In walked a perfect replica of himself.

"Meet the new and improved Gary Samuels," she said. "A life model decoy created specifically to replace you. I've had this in the works for years now, kiddo. You think you could hide that you were SHIELD from me? Well, I'll bet you're kicking yourself all along that you've been married to a Hydra agent, aren't you? Say good night, Gary," she said before kissing him on the forehead and injecting a needle into his neck.

…

Author's note: y'all were right! Cathy is Hydra! Let me know what you think now!


	6. Chapter 5

Author's Note: you all are just…amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best!

Aftermath

Chapter Five

"Good morning, husband of mine!" Cathy sing-songed as she flicked the lights on and off in the back bedroom of her house.

Gary groaned as against the gag that was over his mouth. He was groggy and stiff. He had his hands bound tight behind his back and could no longer feel his fingers.

"Oh my poor darling!" she said, squeezing Gary's cheeks. He stared at her with watery, bloodshot eyes. "One more stick and then I'll untie you so you can have some breakfast."

She produced a hypodermic needle and tapped it twice with a flick of her fingernail before injecting it into the side of Gary's neck.

Gary was still awake, but he was weak. He'd been subdued by the drug that was now coursing through his veins.

Once she was certain that he was not a threat to her, she began to untie him. She massaged out his stiff muscles in his shoulders before removing his gag.

"Okay, I'm going to feed you breakfast. All you need to do is chew, okay?" she said.

"How long have you been Hydra?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Oh, dear. Well, let me see," she said, counting on her fingers. "Well, since you and I started dating. You see, my good friend Gideon Malik, may he rest in peace, told me about Hydra. And since I…"

"You and Malik?"

"I know he was a tad older than me, but he had so many connections. And then he went on to be a part of the World Security Council. And…"

"You've lied to me all this time?"

"Oh, ho, ho," she laughed. "You're not coming up smelling like roses here, mister. You've been lying to me about being SHIELD since the day we met. Never once did you think about offering me that information?"

She was pacing around the small back bedroom. Everything had been stripped from the room, save for the bed with the bare mattress.

"And Gideon, he was an old family friend – he told me. _He_ told me. And I, I couldn't turn down his offer of Hydra."

"Hydra is dead. Malik, and his successor, Ward, all dead. The Red Skull, Rumlow and everybody else…"

"Captain America is very much alive, though, my love. And he's a wanted criminal now, thanks to that Zemo individual. But now that the Captain and his friends are enemies and Peggy Carter is dead, like Howard Stark… And I should thank you, by the way. Without my eavesdropping on that conversation 25 years ago, I never would have been able to give my higher-ups the information on the Starks on their route to the airport that night in December."

"…You?" he said sadly. The told of the death of Howard and Maria Stark ran deep in the legitimate SHIELD agents.

"I received a special commendation for passing _that_ info along. The Winter Soldier was able to go out and take them down and secure the package because you were sloppy. But in our 38 years of marriage, Gary, you've always been sloppy. Socks, food crumbs and your classified SHIELD information. All those times you thought I was just sitting idly by, well, I was taking notes, my dearly beloved."

Gary Samuels felt sick to his stomach. Like someone had punched him in the gut and the small amount of food in his system was threatening to come back up. He thought that he'd been happily married for the last four decades, and it turned out his wife was a Hydra sleeper agent. And she'd been using him the whole time.

"Did they brainwash you?" Gary asked.

"Me? No. My mind was willing and able to accept the directions from Hydra. You – you…I've loved you from the moment I met you so long ago, Gary Samuels. But I've also been sending intel to Hydra."

He shook his head. "You couldn't possibly have loved me if you were Hydra all this time. You're a great liar. But a liar, just the same."

Cathy jumped up from her crouched position, her own older joints beginning to betray her.

"You aren't allowed to call me a liar!" she raged. "You! You're the liar! Your SHIELD team – well, no more. Sure, there's the occasional pocket of SHIELD agents that shows up and smashes something, but they're operation so far out of US jurisdictions, they'll be on the most wanted list with Rogers and Carter any day now. I still love you, Gary. My love for you has never changed. But as soon as I finish taking down Rogers, well, I'm going to kill you. Now, eat your breakfast," she smiled evilly.

…

A phone ringing rouses Sharon from the restful sleep she _had_ been enjoying. He continued to ring and she heard Steve's voice answer it. She strained to listen in, but nothing was clear enough for her to make out from the distance. She snuggled back into her pillow and began to doze once more.

"Good morning," Steve's voice said from the top of the stairs. He was in grey sweatpants and a tank top and bare feet. He smiled warmly. But Sharon didn't want to move.

"I'm not a morning person today," Sharon muttered into the pillow. "Or ever…really…"

Steve chuckled. "Nope. I made pancakes." 

"Steve, I'm impressed, but…"

"And bacon…"

"I really didn't know you could cook," she laughed as she slowly sat up.

"It's going to get cold and for some reason when pancakes get reheated they taste like mud. Am I going to have to carry you?"

"If you want me to be on your level of awake right now, yes. You'll have to carry me."

"I have plans for us today. Reservations and…"

"What?"

"The internet is _so_ helpful."

"Please stop being so charming this early in the day. I can't take it," she groaned and laughed at the same time.

"You leave me no choice," he said. He crossed the room in two long strides and with very little resistance picked her up. He turned and carried her down the stairs.

Steve kissed her and set her down on her feet.

"I really think I might be able to give up the shield and suit, if I could just stay here with you, like this, forever."

"That is very sweet. And endearing, but you know that isn't true."

"It isn't?"

"You're telling me that you would be totally and completely content with living your life like right now, on the run, from her on out? Not being able to be yourself in public? I love you and I love spending time with you, but…you won't be happy. Not forever," Sharon said.

"Well, there is an out – that's who call this morning. It was Sam. He wanted to pass on some information to me."

"And?"

"The governments – all the governments that ratified the Sokovia Accords – would pardon all the people who helped Buck and I. If I turn myself in."

Sharon was going to throw up. She saw spots dancing before her eyes. She knew this day would come, but it didn't mean she was going to like it.

"Do you – do you believe it's valid?"

"A press conference was held yesterday announcing the information. If I come forward, you and Sam, Scott, Wanda and Clint, even Nat, you'll all be issued a full pardon. I just…"

"You have to let them make an example out of you."

"Eat your pancakes. You'll need some sustenance before our adventure today," Steve changed the subject.

"I'm not hungry. At all."

He leaned down and put his forehead to hers. "This is for me to worry about. It's my call. You eat your breakfast, young lady."

Steve had planned a daytrip up the west coast of the state, culminating in a picnic and hike up the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Sharon tried to smile; she tried to remain in a good mood, but she was certain that the nerves she felt all day weren't going away.

The two of them were taking their shoes off after their lunch, in preparation of climbing the sand dunes and Sharon had been very quiet.

"You need to quit thinking about this, Sharon," Steve said and broke her from her thoughts.

She'd checked all of the news sites online as they drove up there and sure enough, all of them were discussing Steve Rogers' character and his options. All of them were questioning what kind of man he really was if he chose to ignore the offer from the United Nations. She couldn't stand how these people, who had never been in such a situation, could question Steve's integrity. And she knew that today was likely one of the last days she would spend with him because there was no way that he was going to say no to that deal.

"You're really pale," he said. "Maybe we should…"

"No. I want to spend time with you," she put her hand in his. "Let's go climb the dunes," she smiled.

As they climbed the steep dunes, Sharon told him the legend of the Sleeping Bear Dunes. And when they reached the top, she pointed out the North and South Manitou Islands – the bear cubs to the mama bear dunes.

"I'm not sure how I've never heard that story before," Steve said as they sat in the sand and looked out at the seemingly endless western horizon of water.

"It's so sad, and yet, really beautiful," Sharon said wistfully.

"Like you today," Steve said. "Beautiful, but sad. I should have waited to tell you about Sam, but…"

"I would have found out about it anyway, Steve."

"Timing has _never_ been my strong suit. But here's how I see it: you, and well, everyone, would be given the pardon. None of you would be criminals; none of you would have to worry. Bucky is safe; T'challa won't let anyone near him. And I can take the blame."

"Pardon me if I can't picture Steven Rogers in prison. You doing time for wanting to have the right to go help in places where you see fit and to help your friend? If you go turn yourself in, I'm going with you."

"No. Absolutely not." It was a tone that Steve rarely used and it surprised Sharon to hear it. But there was no question that he was serious.

"You're out of your mind if you think that Sam or Wanda or Clint would let you do that either."

"Sam…"

"Sam won't let you. I can guarantee that much, sir. And Wanda, yeah, she's a kid, but she respects you, looks up to you, and won't let you make this call, either."

"It's _my_ call. It's _my_ decision. I made the choice to refuse to sign the Accords. I made the choice to recruit them to help me with _my_ fight. It was for _my_ cause. And they followed me. You – you followed me. I owe…"

"You owe us nothing. It's very bold and brave, but you're still not doing this on your own."

"I'm not asking you all to do this – to stay on the run forever."

"Well, even if we're all pardoned _this time_ , do you think we'll quit doing what we're all so damned good at? Getting into trouble? Nope. You'll be in that damned floating raft prison and we'll all do…well, whatever, and we'll all end up in there with you," Sharon finally smiled. "Your team, our friends, we may not be bright, but we're tenacious. And gluttons for punishment."

"You and I – we're coming to a stalemate on this. I won't let you…"

"You aren't _letting_ me do anything, Captain," she nudged him with her elbow. "I don't do anything I don't want to do," she finished. "Race you down," she said before jumping up and running towards the shoreline down below. Sure, they'd have to climb up the dunes before they could climb back down on the side where the car was, but Steve didn't mind. He gave Sharon a bit of a head start before running full speed after her and scooping her up as he ran them both down the dune.

…

Author's note: you know the drill…


	7. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Hi there! I'm so sorry that I have taken so long to update. First, I re-wrote this chapter about four times, and you know how busy life gets sometimes. But here is the update! Thanks!

Aftermath

Chapter 6

"Sam, what choice do I have?" Steve said into his end of the phone. He was outside the cottage, pacing along the edge of the bluff. Steve Rogers waited for his friend's argument, but there wasn't going to be anything that would change his mind.

" _Steve, you know we don't need you to do this," Sam said._

"And you know that I can't ignore this. I can't just ask you to wash your hands of everything you've accomplished and earned…"

" _What about you? Everything you've done?"_ _Sam interrupted._

"That was 70-odd years ago," Steve answered. "Barton and Lang both have kids, Wanda _is_ a kid. And you…" he trailed off. "Sharon doesn't want me to do it either, of course. She said she doesn't care if her name is synonymous with 'traitor', but…"

" _Cap, we don't need you to be a martyr for us. We all willingly followed you. You don't owe us anything."_

Steve was silent while he listened to Sam's special brand of reality and honesty. He was excellent at making sure Steve kept his head out of the clouds. He'd been living in this dreamland with Sharon and pretending that things were fine for almost too long.

Steve looked back up at the house; the cottage that had become his home. It had been nearly four weeks since he'd arrived where had the time gone?

He watched Sharon moving around in the loft area and his chest tightened. God, he loved her.

Sure, it would likely be thought of as weird that he was in love with the niece of the woman he wanted to marry in the forties. But circumstances change and he knew ultimately Peggy would want him to be happy. And that made what he needed to do that much more complicated.

Steve had talked of families and settling down with Stark ages ago, or at least it felt that way. But, the idea of family had changed into the Avengers and Sharon and he were not together at that point. In reality, he was no closer now to that life than he had been during the war, except now he had Sharon.

"Sam, I will not ask you to sacrifice yourself in my name or my cause again. I have the chance to make things right; I need to do it. Buck is back on ice until he can have the programming undone and I'm going to turn myself in."

Steve could hear Wanda's protests in the background, but he remained undeterred.

"You all have a proper safe house, right?"

" _Lang decided to go home; couldn't talk him out of it. Barton went back to his family, too. Wanda and me – we're in the wind til you need us," Sam said. "We'll all be fine, no matter what you decide to do. But you do know that all this could be bullshit, right? When you turn yourself in, they could come after us anyway."_

"And if it isn't bullshit? I can't take that chance. I can't play with people's lives like that." Steve stopped and watched Sharon moving around in the loft. She was packing; trying to get things ready for them to leave tomorrow.

"Well, I'm going to support you, Cap, no matter what you decide." 

"Thank you, Sam," Steve said. "I'll let you know the plan as soon as Sharon has talked to Stark.

Sharon had watched Steve pacing while he was on the phone and she had exited the cottage to go talk to him. But she was intercepted by Gary Samuels.

"He sure looks like he's in an intense conversation," Gary said to her while he motioned to Steve in the distance.

Sharon nodded. "I'll admit it, Gary, it's not the best call in the world. What can I do for you? Or were you here to talk to Steve?"

"The both of you, actually. Cath and I wanted to have the both of you over for lunch tomorrow. She's got some sweet corn and we were thinking of doing some ribs," Gary said.

"That's really sweet of the both of you, but we'll be on the road then."

"Taking a day trip some…"

"No, well, yes, but no. We're headed to Washington DC. Steve has decided to take the UN up on their offer and he's headed to turn himself in," she said quietly. "You should probably just tell Cathy that we had to get back to real life," she finished.

"He's really turning himself in?" Gary asked.

Sharon shrugged. "He's pretty well made up his mind and he's too damn stubborn to change it."

"Do you trust that the UN's intentions are well and good?" Gary questioned.

Sharon shrugged again. "I don't know. I'm not sure what I trust anymore. With Hydra having been in SHIELD since day one and these Accords that somehow branded _the_ Captain America a criminal, I just don't know," she said. She'd seen Gary flinch as she said the word _Hydra_ – it was subtle, but she'd seen it. It was like someone had thrown out a string of curse words, not a well-used word from their shared profession.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, fine," he waved her off. Well, I should be getting' back to the ol' homestead. You two look out for one another, okay?" he finished.

"Of course. Thank you."

She shook his hand and watched the man amble across the yard and into the thicket of trees. Sharon thought briefly that something was very out of place, but put it out of her mind as Steve was walking to her.

"So, Sam has also now tried to talk me out of my plan," he told her.

"Are you really surprised?"

"No," Steve said. "Not really. What did Gary want?"

"To have us over for lunch tomorrow. I declined since you are determined to go to prison," Sharon said.

"Ha-ha," Steve laughed in a sarcastic tone.

"It's okay that we find a little bit of humor in the situation, right?" Sharon asked.

Steve pulled her to him. "I think we have to," he said. "Maybe it means we're going crazy, but…"

"Are you sure you _need_ to do this?" she asked once more. "If you are, I promise, I won't ask again."

"Yes, I'm sure," he half-smiled.

"Okay, then I'll tell you the same thing I'll bet Sam said – that I'm with you no matter what happens."

Steve nodded. "That _is_ what he said."

"Yeah, there was little to no chance that I was wrong on that one."

"Have you called Tony?" he asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm trying to get myself into the proper frame of mind to call him. I don't know where his head is and that never makes for a pleasant phone call," Sharon explained. "I have, however, packed up more of the cottage during my procrastination."

Steve didn't say anything, he just looked at her.

"I'm not sure how you do it, but you're so good at that look," Sharon said.

"What look?"

"The _I'm disappointed in you_ look," she said.

"I apologize. I'm not disappointed in you in the least bit, Sharon," he said. "I'm disappointed that our lives have come down to this decision that I'm making. And I'm making it for us and that isn't fair either."

"I do want you to stop thinking that way. You aren't forcing me into anything. I can walk away from 'us' at any time. But I'm _choosing_ not to. It's just that simple. Now, I'm going to get this call with Tony Stark over and done with. You were hoping for Monday, right?"

"Yes – to give us the weekend for us to get there."

"And say goodbye to each other," Sharon said. "Because no way will they let me in there to see you. They'll be afraid that I'm smuggling in a file in a cake."

"Well, if I were them, I'd be more afraid of your roundhouse," Steve replied.

"Don't – don't make me laugh," Sharon said sincerely. "This is our last night here."

"I thought you said we could find some humor…do you believe we'll never see each other again?"

"I believe that they'll stick you back on ice," Sharon replied.

"If so, feel free to use me as a coffee table," he smiled.

"Stop it," she smacked his shoulder lightly. "You're Captain Steve Rogers and you're turning yourself in as a criminal, you shouldn't be making jokes."

"And you shouldn't be crying, Sharon. It's taken a long time, but I've come to believe that everything happens for a reason."

"Enlighten me on this one, then," Sharon said.

"I'm not one hundred percent on this one," he said as he pulled her into a tight embrace. "Go call Tony and get it over with. Then we have some plans."

Sharon sighed. It wasn't fair of him to be so level-headed. She wanted to scream, cry or punch something, or, all of the above.

"Fine, I will. But – what do you mean…plans?" she asked.

"Plans," he replied simply before letting go of her and walking back towards the stairs at the edge of the bluff.

Sharon retreated back inside and collected her own untraceable phone a moment later. It was an oldie, but a goodie. It was a SHIELD-created piece that had been one of their better inventions. She dialed Tony's number and waited.

Friday answered and for a moment, Sharon had forgotten that JARVIS ha sort of become Vision and he no longer "manned" the phones at the Stark residences.

"Friday, it's Sharon C…"

"Sharon?" Tony's weary voice came through the receiver. "Are you okay? Where are you?" he rapid-fired questions at her.

"Slow down, please, Tony. I'm fine," Sharon said. "I have a safe house."

"A safe house? Are you married with kids, too?" Tony snapped.

"I'm fine. It's – it's something Aunt Peggy told me to do a long time ago. It became very useful…"

"When you stole equipment that had been confiscated by the CIA and gave it back to…"

"Their rightful owners? Yes. And I'd do it again," Sharon replied.

She knew Tony had set his jaw as she waited in silence.

"Do – do you need anything? Do you have access to food and water?"

"I – _we_ have everything we need with the exception of a favor…"

"Rogers," was all Tony said.

"Yes," she replied almost inaudibly. "We need a favor. He's thought about the options he has now and he wants to turn himself in. He's decided to let the world make an example out of him for the chance to have all of our records and names cleared."

"What?"

"Gee – I thought you'd be pleased to hear that he's changed his mind."

"Well, one: he hasn't actually changed his mind and two: I'm not happy at all," Tony said.

"I don't really have the time or the patience to deal with your demons, Tony. He's told me everything and I'm sorry this is incredibly harsh, but…"

"He's okay?"

"Given the circumstances, I would say yes," she said. "And you? How are you really, Tony?"

"Outwardly, I'm the same as I've always been."

"And inwardly?"

"I'm a disaster. But I'm fairly certain you have known that for a long time," Tony said.

"Any word from Pepper?"

"A few, actually. Most of them were very rude."

"She'll come around, Tony."

"I think Pepperony is over," he replied.

"Did you just combine your names? In a serious conversation?" Sharon asked.

"I did. Now, my turn for a question – where is Barnes?"

"That is classified, Tony."

"To hell with classified, Sharon. You aren't SHIELD or CIA any more. You're my family and…"

"And you know I won't do that to Steve."

"You and Rogers – the both of you – he's just…and I'm your family."

"You now as well as I do that killing James Barnes…"

"He was my father's friend and so was Rogers!" Tony shouted. "I'm sorry," he apologized after a moment to calm down.

"Steve didn't kill your parents, Tony. And really, neither did Bucky; it was the Winter Soldier. They used him as a pawn; they controlled him. It could have just as easily been Steve or any other of the soldiers then."

"That doesn't change anything."

"You don't believe that. I know you don't."

Tony was silent for another few beats and Sharon simply waited.

"Rogers…Steve…wants to turn himself in."

"Yes."

"And he would be taking the blame for everything. Not just Barnes, but not signing the Accords and all the things in New York, DC, Lagos, Wakanda and Sokovia. For all of us. He can't do that."

"He has no other choice," Sharon said sadly.

"Believe me, I've _tried_ to talk him out of it, but it seems he's just as stubborn as you."

"When does he plan to make a martyr out of himself?"

Sharon sighed, but answered. "Monday. We're leaving tomorrow to get to DC by then," Sharon told him. "Will you let the proper people know? Steve would like to address everything; say a few words. Then he will turn himself over to custody and prepare for a trial, if need be," Sharon said. Her mouth was going dry while stating the facts.

"Why didn't I hear this from Cap, then?" Tony asked.

"He told me. I should call you back. He knows how much you mean to me," Sharon said.

"I miss you, little girl," Tony said softly.

"Well, I'm pretty much unemployable and my boyfriend is going to jail, so I'm planning on crashing on your couch," Sharon replied.

"You're always welcome. I might even let you have a bedroom."

"Thank you."

"Have Cap to DC by ten AM. I'll see the proper channels are alerted and he can say what he'd like. I can't promise that people will like it."

"Me, either."

"He doesn't need to do this."

"Yes, he does," Sharon said. "I'll talk to you Monday? You'll be there?"

"Of course. Safe travels, little girl."

…

A/N: As always, let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 7

Author's note: You all are seriously the best! Thank you for following this story and to the guest reviewer: thank you so much for your _very_ kind words. Here's the next chapter!

Aftermath

Chapter 7

The life model decoy of Gary Samuels had returned to its home after talking with Sharon and reported what he'd learned.

"Interesting…" Cathy said while she drummed her nails on the kitchen counter. "But I think I have a better idea…" she'd said.

"What are you thinking?" Trevor asked from his place at the table.

"I'm thinking you'll be taking your own trip to DC. I think that we'll be able to do some serious damage there."

"What do you mean?" Trevor asked. "You're not talking about going in and shooting people, are you? There will be a lot of cops and people there; it's not…"

"Not _people,_ darling boy. Just Captain America. He wants to make an example out of himself, we'll let him. But on our terms, not his," Cathy said. "Better get to packing."

"Who will take care of Grandpa?" Trevor asked. The real Gary Samuels was still tied up as a prisoner in the back bedroom of the cottage.

"You'll be headed to DC on your own. Well, you can take your _other_ grandfather. I'll stay here with the _real_ one. Don't you worry about a thing. Drink your lemonade, honey," Cathy said.

She was ready to use this opportunity to its full advantage. Sure, it was a risky plot; to assassinate Captain America while he was turning himself in, but the world would also see the resurgence of Hydra – right as their mascot is taken down. It would be revenge for everything he'd done to take Hydra down and Cathy would be the one orchestrating it all.

She smiled while she patted her grandson on the head. "You stay in here, Trevie. I'm going to make some phone calls."

…

It was bittersweet for Steve and Sharon on their last night together in the cottage. After her phone call with Tony, Sharon had found Steve cooking dinner for the both of them.

The two of them sat outside on the top of the stairs and watched the sunset over the lake, carrying on conversation as if nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen in the next few days. They'd ended up kissing fiercely, holding on to one another as if their lives depended upon the connection.

Steve had picked her up, both of them forgetting their plates and silverware, as he'd carried her back to the cottage in the dark. They'd made love through the night, making memories that they could hold on to for an unknown amount of time.

The following morning, Sharon awoke first, and slipped out of the bed. She'd dressed quickly and walked outside barefoot to collect the plates that were now likely covered in bugs. She shook them off and walked back to the house so she could was the dishes and get the kitchen cleaned up.

Sharon's stomach was a mess of knots as she finished cleaning up the kitchen. They were leaving before lunch that day and she had no idea when, or if, she'd ever be back. She wasn't sure what she would do with the place if she is arrested; maybe she could leave the place to Gary and Cathy. At least they would take care of it. Maybe they could rent it out for additional income.

It was no secret that she still didn't want Steve to do this. But her phone call with Tony had surprised her. She'd been in the room when Steve and he had argued in Berlin, after he'd been arrested with Sam, King T'Challa and Bucky. The argument the two men had shared was unpleasant, to say the least, and now it seemed like Tony had changed his mind. Well, slightly.

She heard Steve coming down the stairs and Sharon quickly wiped away the stray tear that rolled down her cheek.

"Hey," he said as he walked towards her. Steve kissed her on the cheek and moved to assist her with the remainder of the kitchen cleaning and packing.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Sharon asked.

"Are you asking me if I've changed my mind?" Steve replied.

Sharon shook her head while she handed him the dish towel so he could dry the dishes. "I said I wasn't going to ask that question again. I was just asking how you're feeling this morning."

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Aside from the trip we'll be leaving on shortly, I'm good, too," she replied.

"How bad were the forgotten plates?" Steve asked as he stacked the now clean dishes back up in the cupboard.

Sharon chuckled. "Only a few bugs," she answered. "The other critters were already done with them by the time I got there. I think I'm going to drop any of the perishable food at Cathy and Gary's house before we go. That way we won't be throwing away perfectly good food."

"That's a good idea," he said, nodding.

"We should probably take some snacks for the car, though," she said.

"Also a good idea," he said. "Are you going to make eye contact with me at all today?" Steve asked, cornering her by the sink.

She stared at his chest, instead of meeting his gaze. Steve gently moved his hand to her chin to bring her head up. "Better," he smiled.

"I'm just having a hard time leaving. I'm not usually a huge proponent for hiding out from problems, but this...you and I…it felt pretty damn good."

"It has been pretty damn good," Steve said before kissing her.

Things between him and Sharon had been better than ever. And he wondered, if none of this had happened, if they ever would have gotten back together. That didn't matter now, though. They _were_ back together, and that was what Steve really cared about.

"But…real life awaits, I suppose," Sharon said. "Ugh…real life," she laughed, resting her cheek on his chest.

"Sometimes I wonder what _real life_ actually means," Steve said. "Or if _real life_ is in the cards for me."

"I think if anyone deserves a _real life_ , it's you, Steve Rogers. You've worked hard enough for a long time, you deserve a rest and a life that you want."

"Well, that isn't what I signed up for, I guess," Steve said.

"What would you have done, if you hadn't put that plane down in the water?" Sharon asked. "What was the plan? To marry Peggy?"

"Well…I…Sharon, do you really want to hear about this?" he asked. "I'm not the best at this, but even _I_ know that we…"

"I just wondered. We hadn't really talked about it and…" she trailed off. "You don't have to tell me. I pretty much know anyway…" Sharon said.

"Yes, she and I hadn't really talked about it. We hadn't even really had a _real_ date, but yes. I thought about marrying her. I thought about having a wife and kids and a career. And then, in an instant, things changed. I had a plane with a bomb on it and the only choice I had was to put it down in the water. I woke up 70 years later and things are totally different. Those things were what I wanted then, but I'm a different person now and I want you and I want you to be happy," Steve said.

Sharon sniffled and he clutched her to him in a tight hug. "Lots of things still don't make sense to me, but here and now, I know that I'm in love with you, Sharon Carter. And I let you go once before, but I'll be damned if I do it again. I had something I was going to talk to you about last night and we ended up…busy," Steve smiled down at her.

"And what was that, Captain Rogers?" Sharon replied.

"Well, I'm hoping you'll make an honest man out of me. Sharon, will you marry me?" he asked.

"I…um…"

He pulled a simple, but beautiful diamond and silver ring. "I know…my timing…it's just awful, but I…"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'll marry you," Sharon smiled.

Steve sighed and laughed. "Phew. I …"

Sharon silenced him with a kiss that ended up with the both of them pulling at each other's clothes. They somehow worked their way over to the small couch while they divested themselves of their remaining clothing.

Sometime later, Sharon was laying with her head on Steve's bare chest and listening to his heard beat. Her hand, now wearing the diamond solitaire, was tracing the lines of some of the scars he'd gotten in his various fights over the years.

"If ever I was reconsidering the plan…" Steve trailed off while he stroked her naked back with one hand. "This – this would be it. You…"

"Well, I'm going to be by your side through everything. I will admit that your timing is less than ideal, though," Sharon laughed. "This ring is beautiful, Steve."

"It was my mother's," he said softly as he brushed some of her hair from her face.

"Really?"

"I was able to hold on to a few things from back then," Steve said. "She wanted me to have it for when the time was right. She would have loved you, Sharon."

"Oh," Sharon said as she felt the hot tears welling up in her eyes once more. "You need to cut out that stuff; I'm going to keep crying at this rate."

"Well, we can't have that."

Sharon smiled and planted a kiss on one of his scars. It was then that she noticed the clock on the wall.

"Oh, man. It's getting late," she said with a lot of regret in her voice. "I'll bet I could call Tony and call it all off…" she said. "But that likely isn't going to happen."

Steve kissed Sharon's knuckles, then palm. "No, I'm not going to change my mind. About any of it."

"Then I suppose we'll have to get up and get dressed," Sharon said.

Sharon slowly stood and stretched slightly while Steve drank her in. He felt like the luckiest man on Earth: alone here with Sharon in their own little universe. He knew full well what the world was like outside the cottage, but inside was the safe zone. Part of him, albeit a small one, felt like a fool for wanting to give it all up.

"I see the wheels turning, Captain. Are you going to share?" Sharon asked.

"I was just thinking how beautiful you are," he replied.

From his place on the couch, he watched her blush all over her body.

"Well, thank you. You're not too bad yourself."

"Well, I _am_ 98 years old."

"I know" Sharon smiled. "I kinda dig that. I've always had a thing for older guys."

"Then it seems you've hit the jackpot."

"Are you going to stay on the couch all day?" Sharon asked. "I'll admit, I don't mind, but we'll be rushed on our way to DC, then."

Steve nodded slowly and pushed himself up on the couch. "You're right. Shower and then we'll hit the road?" he said.

"Sure."

Both of them knew a wedding might not happen…ever. Neither of them knew what the UN had in store as punishment for Steve Rogers and the _unknown_ was the elephant in the room. IT was uncertain that Steve would ever see the light of day again after this weekend. But Steve knew he was going to do his damnedest to make sure Sharon and his friends were safe.

…

A/N: Well, y'all know what to do…let me know!


	9. Chapter 8

Author's note: Holy double update, Batman! (okay, wrong universe for this story…but you get the idea…)

Aftermath

Chapter 8

The beginning of the road trip, as it was, was slightly tense. Sharon started out behind the wheel and Steve was too quiet. However, turning on the radio proved fruitless to break the silence. Every station they landed on was reporting the upcoming event of Captain America surrendering himself in Washington DC. Yes, Steve wanted the word to get out, but he wasn't prepared for the amount of people weighing in on the subject. Even the stations that were known for playing music all day were taking a break and giving their opinions on the matter. It only took a short while of all of that before Sharon attached her mp3 player and they listened to her music instead.

They'd stopped for a short dinner break at the Michigan/Ohio border. It was a _very_ brief because Steve's (usual) choice of disguise wasn't all that discreet and Sharon didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention.

Steve had taken over driving after their dinner and Sharon continued to search the internet for news on what was going to take place in a couple of days. All of the major news providers were giving their own take on the subject as well.

"You're everywhere, Rogers," Sharon sighed.

"What's the general consensus?" he asked.

"Do you really want to know?" she responded.

He laughed; he couldn't help it. "That bad, huh?"

"Actually, no. It's about sixty-forty, really. Most people are on your side, despite the initial support of the Accords. They would rather have you and the other Avengers breaking rules occasionally instead of no protection at all. And some people think this is a publicity stunt – probably because Tony Stark leaked the news," she said.

"Really?" Steve asked.

"Yes, some people are really on our side; supportive of the cause. The other side is calling for your head mounted on a pike. And mine, too."

"Well, they'll have to settle for mine alone," Steve said.

They were only a couple of hours behind on the trip to Washington DC. Sharon expected a call or message from Tony at any time, letting her know of the specifics. However, she'd gleaned a lot of the information from the internet already.

"Well, if they want mine, too…"

"They can't have it," Steve said, still facing the road ahead. "They'll have to get through me first."

"You know I'm essentially unemployable, so maybe they could lock us up together," Sharon laughed.

"You don't think your godfather would hire you in a heartbeat?"

"Nope. I'm too unpredictable. And as unpredictable as he is – he _hates_ it in other people. That's why you wounded him – he was surprised as hell that you did what you did," Sharon explained.

"You're very wise."

"I just know Tony Stark. He and I grew up together," she laughed and made Steve laugh, too. "I've seen parts of him, his vulnerable side that he usually keeps to himself. I think the two of you surprised each other."

"I've come to expect the unexpected from a Stark. I never would have thought Howard would have settled down long enough to get married and have a kid. Did you meet them?" Steve suddenly asked.

"I have a couple memories of Howard and Maria at some holidays but I'm not sure if they're real or from the photo albums," Sharon said. "I was five when – you know – and I was just old enough to remember going to the funeral with Aunt Peggy and sitting between her and Tony at the church," she finished.

"I never…wanted to have to choose between Bucky and Tony," Steve said suddenly.

"I know. It's unfortunate that it came down to that. And I know Tony wishes it hadn't happened this way."

"I don't know we'll ever be able to repair the trust," Steve said.

Sharon shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about that, well, not too much. It seems like Tony wasted no time in helping out with your request."

"I'm glad that you talked to him and not me."

"Would he be the one person who could change your mind, perhaps?" Sharon asked.

"It's a real possibility," he nodded.

"I don't believe that."

"Tony is a good man…just like Howard was."

"Like you, too," Sharon replied. "I count myself lucky to know a group of individuals like you, Tony, Clint – sometimes Nat," Sharon laughed.

"She _is_ like the letter Y," Steve agreed.

"Yes, but deep down, everything she does is for the same reason _you_ do things," Sharon said. "Because she feels its right."

"Did you know her when…?"

"When she wasn't on _our_ side? Yeah. I had a run in with her early on. I think that's why we ended up as friends. We both tried to shoot each other. We were able to overcome that."

"Tony and I did a lot more than just try to shoot each other, Sharon," Steve said.

"Well, I'm not going to argue with you on this for the remainder of this trip, which I figure is at least another seven hours. I'm just saying that Tony isn't good at apologies in the traditional sense and this thing – this might really be his olive branch."

"His olive branches…" Steve said, thinking back to the box set of pens that Tony had brought out when they were in Berlin.

"I'm with you – remember that. I love Tony, too. But I'm with you."

He took her hand in his and laced his fingers through hers. He needed the connection. Sharon had given him a lot to think about – things he had never really asked about previously.

…

Cathy Samuels grinned madly as she watched the news on the television. All the major networks were covering the upcoming event in Washington DC. Stark had leaked, intentionally, the whole news to the world and now everyone would know the details of the upcoming event.

It was Saturday afternoon and Cathy was impatiently waiting for Monday. She knew Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers were on their way because Sharon had dropped off the remaining groceries from her cottage. Once she'd seen them drive off down the road, she'd gone over and peered in the windows of the cottage and sure enough, it was packed up all neat and tidy.

Gary had tried to make a ruckus when Sharon was at the door, but Cathy had quickly stuck him with a paralyzing agent from a syringe into his carotid artery. He'd been out for a long time now.

Cathy was now just biding her time until Trevor and the LMD version of Gary had the change to fulfill their mission. And that mission was essentially the same as it had been before – kill Captain America and bring forth Hydra once more. This would be for every Hydra agent he'd felled and certainly for Brock Rumlow, her precious grandson.

Originally the plan had only been to take down Captain America, but Cathy had quickly realized that Tony Stark as well as many other of the Avengers would be there as well. And despite the presumable heavy guard, they would be sitting ducks.

Cathy alerted Trevor and told him to take them all out – or as many as he could. Hydra would reward him handsomely.

Whatever remaining Avengers would be too distraught to go on, and Hydra would flourish once more. The potential for world domination was there, it was ripe for the taking.

Cathy heard Gary beginning to stir once more in the back bedroom. She felt as though he would need to hear the plan so he could feel helpless to stop it. She laughed to herself as she went back to the room to talk to him.

And for the time being, Trevor was positioned in waiting. He and the LMD of his grandfather were staying in a hotel near the site that Captain America would he turning himself in.

In less than 48 hours, he was to become a founding member of the new Hydra. He would have single-handedly brought down Captain America. He was doing it all for his family – especially his grandmother and his now-deceased cousin, Brock. He was proud to be chosen and anxious that he'd been put in this position.

…

The motel that Sharon and Steve found to stop at reminded Sharon of the Bates Motel and despite being a seasoned agent, she was still wary to rent the room. She'd gone in alone to procure the key and sign the necessary paperwork while Steve tried to look as casual as possible while wearing his sunglasses at night. Sharon had tried to make him feel better by playing him the Corey Hart song, but she was the only one to find it funny.

The motel room, once they were inside, wasn't anything spectacular, but it would do for the night. Sharon relaxed slightly as she was nowhere near the office and for the fact that she wasn't staying alone.

"Are you all right?" Steve asked. "I mean, I know this trip hasn't been _that_ great, but…"

Sharon forced a smile. "I'm just reverting back to my ten year old self who stupidly watched _Psycho_ with her godfather."

"Your mother probably wasn't so happy about that."

"My mother didn't care. It was Aunt Peggy that was pissed at Tony," Sharon smiled.

"I'd imagine that wasn't pleasant."

"It was like the time she decided to test the strength of your shield, Steve."

He arched an eyebrow, slightly. "She told you about that?"

"Are you kidding? The _Aunt Peggy shot at Captain America_ story is my favorite of all of them," Sharon replied before yawning.

"We should get some sleep so we can get up early and go tomorrow."

"You won't make an early riser out of me, Steve. No matter what. SHIELD couldn't do it, the CIA couldn't either. I'm destined to sleep in," she said.

"I think I got too much sleep," Steve replied.

"I could understand that."

Sharon began to unbutton her jeans and Steve watched intently.

"You're just going to watch me get undressed?" Sharon said.

"It _is_ one of the best parts," he replied. "And it's probably for the best if my hands and I stay across the room," Steve smiled.

Sharon kicked off her jeans and walked to him. "Nope. That's a terrible idea, Captain."

She drew him down into a kiss and Steve's hands moved to the hem of the shirt she was still wearing. They broke apart long enough so he could pull it off over her head and toss it away.

Sharon was helping Steve remove his pants at the same time as a loud, musical ringtone started to play from the pile of fabric at his feet.

"That's Tony," Steve said.

"Is that AC/DC?" Sharon laughed.

"Yeah, I figured…I figured I'd recognize it anywhere," Steve said. "I need…"

Sharon sighed and reached down to pick up the phone from the floor where it had fallen from Steve's pocket.

"Go ahead," she sighed.

She handed him the phone and stepped towards the bathroom. "I'll be in the shower when you're done," she said.

Steve Rogers watched Sharon's nearly naked form walk towards the door to the bathroom, while unhooking her bra. Without looking behind her, she dropped it on the floor and stepped into the bathroom. She closed the door with a soft click. He then took a deep breath while sitting down on the edge of the bed. He answered the call while he finished removing his jeans from around his ankles.

"Tony," Steve said.

"Rogers," Tony replied gruffly. "I can count on the fact that you're taking care of my goddaughter, correct? She's safe?"

"Of course," Steve replied.

"And you – you're all right?"

"I appreciate what you've done, Tony."

"You know this could be a huge set up. You really shouldn't be so trusting, Rogers. Especially of a man who you were fighting with a few weeks ago."

"Well, Mr. Stark," Steve started. "I know I can trust you. I don't have to think about it."

Tony sighed. "Why now?" he asked. "Why, after all of that, now you're just giving up and turning yourself in?" he finished.

"I don't consider it giving up. This is the right call for this matter," Steve said. "Like what I did before was the right call, then."

"Do you have any idea of what they want to do with you?" Tony asked.

"I have a few ideas," Steve replied.

He heard the shower turn on in the room next door and Steve stared at the door like he could see through it.

"I've got Secretary Ross spamming me with calls since I shared your plan."

"And what does _he_ want?" Steve asked.

"He wants you to sign the Accords. And make a lot of agreements to work for him. And I think he saw you as their personal poster boy for a while," Tony remarked.

"I've done that route before and I didn't care for it," Steve said. "And I still don't agree with the Accords. How are you holding up?" he asked, changing the subject.

Tony was silent for a full minute; Steve simply waited.

"You finally showed your dark side, Cap," Tony said, referencing their conversation on Clint's farm a couple of years ago.

"You said you didn't trust a guy without one," Steve replied.

"Yep," Tony replied. "Okay, well I need to get going; I have a…thing. You or Sharon message me when you've made it to town. I've got a hotel booked for you both and you will be able to relax in peace for a bit when you get here," Tony said.

"Of course. Thank you."

"Give Sharon my best," he told Steve.

"Absolutely."

"Okay, well, see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Thanks again, Tony."

Both men ended the call and Steve sat in his boxers on the bed for a moment while he replayed the conversation in his mind. Tony was keeping secrets again – as was he – but something about Tony felt different this time. However, Steve wasn't going to spend too much time thinking on it this time. Instead, he dropped the phone on the bed, removed his boxers and shirt and moved into the bathroom to join Sharon in the shower. Everything else would wait.

…

A/N: Y;all know the drill – leave me a comment! Much thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 9

Author's note: I was on a roll, so here is the next chapter. Thanks all, for the kind words and for reading. So, here it is…

Aftermath

Chapter 9

Sharon and Steve had awoken earlier than Sharon cared for and left the motel early. They had stopped at a local store to grab some food for the road, to cut down on potential stops, then got on the road to DC.

By the time they arrived in DC during the early afternoon hours, the city was a total madhouse. There was a major increase in traffic in and just people in general. Protestors were lining sidewalks everywhere – both for and against Steve Rogers. Steve was quiet as he steered the two of them through the city. He was extra careful to not make any eye contact when stopped for traffic lights.

Sharon messaged Tony, as he'd requested, and he sent her the hotel information back to her. She got Steve pointed in the right direction and in no time, they were pulling into an underground parking garage. The only other vehicle clearly belonged to Tony Stark.

As they climbed out and stretched. Happy Hogan joined them. He greeted the both of them warmly.

"Hi Happy," Sharon said before hugging him. "Is Tony upstairs, then? Or did he send you in a company car?" she was careful to hold her left hand where the diamond ring wouldn't be seen.

"Yes – Tony is here. He's upstairs," Happy told her. "How long has it been since I've seen you? It's been forever."

"It _has_ been ages – it feels like," Sharon said. "And have you met Steve before?"

Happy extended his hand to Steve for a handshake. Steve gratefully accepted – it wasn't what he'd been expecting from someone so close to Tony.

"It is nice to finally meet you, Captain Rogers," Happy said while wearing a smile.

"Please, call me Steve," he answered. "And it's nice to meet you, too."

"I guess I should take you up there," Happy said.

"How is he?" Sharon asked as they were led to the elevator.

"Do you remember October 2005?" Happy asked her.

Steve Sharon go momentarily wide-eyed. "Really? That bad?"

"Well…"

"It's just everything all at once for him, I suppose," Sharon said ads they started moving up.

"Between the potential PTSD from New York, the Mandarin and Sokovia and the break up with Pepper, well…"

"Potential?" Steve asked.

"Well, I say _potential_ because he's not agreed to have treatment for it," Happy said. "And this, well, he's pretty much…broken," he said quietly.

Both Sharon and Steve were silent.

"But he's been…better, a little, since you called, Sharon," he said. "He was very glad to hear your voice. He got dressed that day."

"How is Rhodey?" Sharon asked.

"Still recovering – still getting used to the bionic attachments Tony has been personalizing for him."

Sharon had not brought up Colonel James Rhodes and his extensive amount of injuries to Steve. She was sure that the others had filled him in and she knew Steve would feel badly enough without all the details.

"And you – how was your recovery been?" Sharon asked. "Happy, unfortunately, was caught by an Extremis explosion, back in 2013," she told Steve.

"I can tell when we're going to get rain, now, based on my knees, but otherwise I'm back to my old self," Happy smiled.

The elevator stopped and Sharon took a deep breath. Steve had told her that the phone call with Tony last night had gone just fine, but she was still wary of seeing Tony. Steve squeezed her hand to reassure her, but it was only partially helping. A massive knot had formed in the pit of her stomach and it didn't seem like it was going to go away anytime soon.

"Breathe," Steve whispered in her ear.

"I'm trying," Sharon replied.

They stepped off of the elevator and Happy pointed out a room down the hall.

"Did he buy out the whole place?" Sharon asked.

"Yes, he did," Happy nodded. "Did you expect anything less?"

"No," she shook her head. "No, I don't. In fact, I'm kind of surprised he hasn't bought out the whole block."

"Okay, well, Tony is staying on the top floor. You can go up when you're ready. Captain Rogers…Steve…this is your room and Sharon…"

"He wants us in separate rooms?" Sharon asked.

"I, uh…"

"The one room is fine for us, Happy," she said.

He nodded. "Then you can stay here in this room," he handed Steve the keycard. "Or this one," he handed another to Sharon.

She read the number that was on the envelope. "This is two floors up."

Happy shrugged. "Don't shoot the messenger."

Steve clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "This one here is great. Thank you."

"Okay, well, I'll be going then. I'll let Tony know and you can get settled in," the man said.

Sharon hugged Happy. "Thank you," she smiled. "And don't worry about telling Tony about us staying in the same room. I'll do it," she said.

"Thank you," Happy laughed.

He shook Steve's hand and headed back to the elevator. Steve opened the door and they entered the suite.

"This is bigger than the apartment we had in Chicago," Sharon said as they walked in.

Steve wasn't surprised that this was where Tony had elected to stay. He was good at throwing money at things and his money had found an over the top hotel that perfectly suited Tony.

"Maybe he wanted you to stay somewhere nice…" Sharon trailed off.

"In case they put me in jail and throw away the key?" Steve said.

"I…"

"You're fine, I'm joking," Steve replied. "This place _is_ amazing."

"He has to know we're back together," Sharon said.

"I think you might be focused on the wrong part of this," Steve replied.

"He's such an idiot," Sharon replied to him.

"He loves you – he's just being protective of you."

"Because you're so terrifying?" Sharon said. "Are you going to break my heart?" she asked as she stretched up to put her arms around Steve's neck. "Should I be wary of you?"

He dipped down to kiss her. "No. I'm not going to hurt you."

She kissed him again. "Good," she whispered against his lips.

"Sharon, as much as…" he said slowly while using all of his available willpower. "I think we should go talk to Tony sooner rather than later."

"Really?"

"Don't you think we should check in with him?"

"No."

"Come on," he said, tilting his head.

"Do you really want to see him?" Sharon asked.

"I think he needs us," Steve said. "Hogan – he was right – Tony is….for lack of a better word…broken. He nearly died in New York and the Mandarin almost killed him. Pepper broke up with him and then the information about his parents. People who aren't Tony Stark would have given up ages ago."

"I know."

"And I wasn't eager for an olive branch before – because Stark always has his own agenda. But I'm starting to understand what he was trying to accomplish. I misjudged what Tony was saying," Steve said. "At least now I know where it's all coming from."

Fifteen minutes later, Sharon was summoning her courage to knock on Tony's door. She paused, hand in the air, and looked to Steve. He nodded and she put her hand to the door. Tony had opened the door in an instant.

He pulled Sharon into a tight embrace and held her there for a long while.

"It's so good to see you, little girl," he said into her shoulder. But his demeanor changed when he looked up to Steve. "Rogers."

"Mr. Stark," Steve said back.

The two men shared a tense handshake once Tony had let go of Sharon and she wondered if she would have to break them up.

"Tony, I do appreciate everything you've done for this," Steve said.

"Are your rooms satisfactory?" Tony asked, changing the subject. He was focused on Sharon who was doing her best to hide her engagement ring.

"We're only using the one room," Steve told him.

"So, you two – you're back together...as a couple?" Tony asked.

"Yes," both Steve and Sharon answered him.

"And…"

"And I've asked Sharon to marry me and she's said yes," Steve said.

They both saw the color drain from Tony's face, but he did not lose eye contact with them.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order, then," Tony replied.

"Thank you," said Sharon.

"And, when did this take place?" Tony said.

"Friday night," Sharon answered.

"Interesting."

"We wanted to tell you in person," she added.

"Sure, sure," he nodded. "Well, you all should come inside and sit down. We can discuss tomorrow's details," he finished.

Tony moved aside to let them into his hotel room. He sat down in an armchair and Steve and Sharon sat opposite him on the sofa. He stared intently at the lack of space between their two bodies.

"So…"

"So…explain to me how you plan on getting married?" Tony said, staring at them. "Because I thought your plan tomorrow was to turn yourself in and I don't think they allow for conjugal visits."

"Maybe we shouldn't have…" Sharon began.

"Tony, I'll be the first to admit that the timing is…terrible."

"That certainly is an… _interesting_ …way to put it, Captain. And, I think, a significant understatement," he said in a sarcastic tone.

"I love Sharon," Steve said. "It's just that simple," he added.

Tony's eyes were watery – it was uncertain if it was because he was touched by the emotional sentiment or because Tony was simply exhausted.

"Have you been sleeping? Eating regularly?" Sharon asked.

"We're not talking about me," Tony said defensively.

"I think we should," Sharon said.

Tony was up and out of his chair and was pacing back and forth in front of the two of them. He did look thinner and exhausted.

"No, this isn't some kind of intervention for me, okay?" Tony said. "I'm fine. And we have the large matter of you _idiotic_ plan to deal with," Tony yelled.

Steve was instantly on his feet. "Don't yell at her," he said.

Sharon jumped up in between the two of them.

"The both of you will behave like the civil superhumans you are," Sharon demanded. "You don't have to like each other; shit, you don't even have to tolerate one another. You just have to respect each other, okay? And I know you both do, so you can cut the pissing contest short," Sharon finished. "All right?" she asked Tony.

He nodded, wearing a bemused smirk. "She's gotten kind of demanding," he said in a low voice.

"And Steve?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, mimicking Tony's smirk.

"I'm glad to hear it, gentlemen. Are you both ready for a civil discussion? With _no_ name-calling?" she asked while looking straight at Tony.

"I'm fine," Tony said, taking a seat once more. Sharon and Steve followed suit and sat back on the sofa.

In a matter of hours, and a few more small arguments, Steve and Tony had discussed the entirety of Steve's plan. Tony filled them both in on what the UN was planning on demanding of Steve and any incarceration was still up in the air.

Sharon felt her body relaxing as their discussion continued through dinner. She was able to keep her eyes open through the meal, but finally she succumbed to sleep when they were done eating. She retired to the sofa while both Tony and Steve continued to talk. Both were still on opposite sides, but they were making it work for the time being.

…

Trevor Samuels was on edge. He was antsy and anxious. He'd woken up from a nap earlier in the day and couldn't quite remember why he was in Washington DC. He'd tried to wake up his grandfather and realized suddenly that he was one of those life-like robots.

He knew he would calm down with a glass of his grandmother's lemonade, but he found the jugs he'd brought with him totally empty. He'd drunk all of one and the other had tipped over and spilled. He began to breathe heavily; it felt like his tongue was too big for his mouth and he thought he could feel his throat closing up. He tried to open a window for fresh air, but they wouldn't budge. He sat down on the floor and rocked himself forwards and backwards. He felt thirsty and like he was drowning, all at once. He was freaking out.

He reached for his phone and dialed the only person who could help him: his grandmother.

"Grandma?" he whispered when she picked up. "Why am I here? Why am I in Washington DC?"

"You had better be joking!" she shouted.

No…I, I, I…I can't remember why I'm here. I can sort of get glimpses of memories, but… And has Grandpa Gary always been a robot?"

"You listen carefully to me, boy…" Cathy said as she delved into the entire plan. While Trevor was still rocking himself back and forth, the LMD version of his grandfather was powering up. Cathy was controlling him from back in Michigan.

In a matter of seconds, the robot Gary was upright and standing over Trevor. Trevor had only mere seconds and he spent them yelping before Gary put the syringe into Trevor's neck. In an instant, Cathy's grandson was perfectly motionless and unconscious on the floor of the hotel room.

The LMD of Gary stooped and picked up the phone from the man on the floor. He placed it to his head. "It's done, ma'am."

"You're so much better at minding than my actual husband," Cathy said. "But I'm not surprised. You don't have a mind of your own. I'm going to need you to carry out the plan, now," she told the man on the phone. "Now, repeat it all back to me."

"Yes, ma'am."

…

A/N: so, we're getting near that time. And while Tony & Steve are getting along, Tony definitely has something up his sleeve…


	11. Chapter 10

Aftermath

Chapter 10

Sharon Carter awoke and for a panicked minute, she had no idea where she was. She had a very solid body lying next to her: Steve Rogers. He was sleeping soundly and his breathing was soothingly rhythmic.

She figured he must have carried her back when she and Tony were done for the night. She was still dressed in her clothes, despite being tucked into the bed.

Carefully, so as not to wake Steve, she climbed out of the bed. She found her way to the bathroom in the dark, after grabbing her suitcase. She changed into her pajamas and moved to wash her face.

As she removed her remaining make up, she kept glimpsing the ring on her finger and her chest tightened. She instantly began to cry.

Sharon hurriedly turned on the shower's faucet, to drown out the sound of her sobs and she shank down onto the floor.

She wasn't sure how long it had been, but a knock came on the door and Steve opened it before walking in. He took one look at her and turned off the water.

Wordlessly, he scooped her up in his arms, turned the bathroom light off and took her back to bed with him.

Once back in the bed, he held her in a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I cracked."

"There's nothing wrong with that," he whispered into her hair.

They sat like that, in bed, in total silence until Sharon fell back asleep. Steve laid awake for a while longer, making sure she was asleep, before he fell back asleep himself.

Steve let Sharon continue to sleep when he awoke the next morning. He was restless and in the pre-dawn hours, he thought he could go out for a run. Thinking better of that idea, he found his way to the hotel's gym and started really running on the treadmill.

He was so focused that he didn't hear the door open.

"You're still an early-riser," Tony's voice said from behind Steve. "I thought you might've started sleeping in while you were on break."

"I'll never be a late-sleeper. And I've got a lot on my mind this morning," Steve replied.

"Yeah," Tony replied. "Friday, how many miles has Rogers done this morning?"

"Sir, Captain Rogers has run fifty miles in the time that he's been on the treadmill," Friday's voice said. "That is approximately 1.8 miles per minute, Mr. Stark."

"You've increased your speed," Tony noted. "That's more than 30 miles an hour."

"Like I said, I've got a lot on my mind," Steve said once more while he stepped down from the machine. He'd broken a sweat, but he wasn't hardly breathing hard.

"You're not very talkative this morning," Tony commented

"Is there something you needed me for, Tony? Because I…"

Tony's phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out of his pocket to read the caller ID display. "Ross," Tony said while rolling his eyes.

He sent the Secretary of State to voicemail and put the cellphone back into his pocket.

"I only came down here to work out – like you," Tony said. "I figured it was time to get back on _that_ horse. Side note: I found out how much I enjoy squeeze cheese in that past few weeks."

Steve nodded. "Okay, well, I'm going to get cleaned up," he said.

Tony opened his mouth and closed it again without saying anything. He simply let Steve leave the gym.

When Steve returned to the hotel room, he found Sharon cross-legged on the bed, his Captain America suit draped across her lap and a needle and thread in her hand.

"I found a hole that was never fixed up," Sharon said as he looked at her.

"Thank you."

"I just assumed you'd be wearing this…" she pointed.

He nodded. "You assumed right."

"I'm really sorry about last night," Sharon said. "I don't know what came over me. I…"

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Sharon," Steve said. "It's a…"

"Very difficult day," she finished.

He nodded. "I'm going to jump in the shower and get cleaned up."

"I should have your suit done by the time you're out," Sharon said.

With a quick peck on the cheek, Steve was gone into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

…

Time was moving incredibly fast and incredibly slow all at once that morning. It felt like she had just woken up when Sharon was putting the finishing touches on her hair. She was standing in the bathroom mirror, trying to get a handle on her nerves.

She turned to Steve, who sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on his boots.

"You look really nice," he said, looking up at her.

"Thank you," she replied softly. "It doesn't matter, though."

"Sure, it does."

"And why is that?"

"Because it's giving you something to do with your hands besides wringing my neck for making this decision," Steve said.

"So now you're a mind reader?" Sharon asked.

"I'm nowhere near Wanda's level, but…your body language is hard to mistake," Steve said.

He finished with his boots and stood. The red, white, and blue suit _had_ seen better days, but it had been cleaned as best as they could manage without taking it to a dry cleaner. It had some frayed edges, and a couple pieces that had been torched with intense heat, and Steve wore it proudly.

Sharon touched the spot on his side that she'd stitched up the hole and remembered the scar that mirrored it on his skin.

"How do _I_ look?" Steve finally grinned.

"Very…patriotic," Sharon said. "Is it helping you to feel the justice surging through your veins?"

There was a knock on the door.

"It must be that time…" Sharon said.

Steve kissed her lightly. "Ready?"

"I suppose," she replied. "You?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

… … …

Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, and Tony Stark shared a tense ride to the Senate building. In his many conversations with the Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross, it was decided that this would be the best location. They could secure the building and its surroundings.

Steve would be given the podium, to speak what he wanted and then he would be incarcerated before a trial. Everyone was well-aware that no jury would every convict Captain America, but it was important that they went through the motions.

Sharon was nervously twisting her engagement ring as they were driven to their destination. Steve took her hand in his and looked at her.

"Everything is going to be fine – no matter what happens," Steve assured her.

"Bull shit," Sharon said, faking a smile.

"Your language, young lady," Tony said while he scrolled through his news on his phone.

"I learned it from you," Sharon told him before smirking slightly.

"Not untrue," Tony replied.

The car pulled to a stop.

"Brace yourselves," Tony said.

…

It seemed like the whole world had shown up to see what Steve Rogers was going to do. The protestors were out in full-force, too. The people that were supporting Cap cheered when he stepped out of the vehicle. The crowd that was against Steve was being restrained by guards.

Steve helped Sharon out of the car and Tony emerged after her. Armed guards met them and escorted them up the steps.

As they were going through the metal detectors, a guard approached Steve while holding strength-dampening hand cuffs.

"I'm sorry, Cap," he said.

"Is that truly necessary?" Sharon asked, annoyed. "He's here to turn himself in," she said from behind him.

"It's fine, Sharon," Steve replied quietly.

"No, it isn't."

"Well, Ms. Carter, it's the _only_ way that he'll be going inside that room," a familiar voice said. It was Secretary Ross. "And you should be in handcuffs, too," he nodded at another one of his men.

"No," Tony said. "She has no weapons and she isn't going to cause any trouble," he told Ross.

"And she's still a wanted criminal," Ross replied.

"For another hour or so," Steve said.

"Fine, let it be on your head, Stark," Ross said after a long pause.

"You have no idea," Tony said under his breath.

Both he and Sharon as Steve was put into the cuffs – one for each wrist. They were designed to slow him down and make him weak. And it looked like they had an immediate effect.

"This sucks," Sharon said to Tony.

"Yep," was all he replied.

"Captain Rogers, you and I will go have a discussion and then you can make your speech or whatever it is that you're intending to do…within reason," Ross said. "There is a conference room that you and I will use over there."

The guards started to lead Steve to the room indicated by Secretary Ross and Ross started behind them. Tony and Sharon started to follow along as well, but more guards stopped them.

"Just Rogers," Ross said.

"That's not what we agreed on," Tony said to Ross.

"I've changed my mind. Is that all right with you or should we find you your own set of bracelets?" Ross asked.

"Its fine," Steve said over his shoulder to Tony and Sharon.

A moment later he was escorted into the room with Ross hot on his heels. The door closed firmly behind the both of them.

Half an hour later, Tony and Sharon were situated in a front row seat and Steve Rogers was led out like a lamb for slaughter in front of a meeting of the UN's delegates.

"I don't like this," Sharon whispered to Tony. He squeezed her hand to be reassuring, but he didn't know how things were going to go either.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate you all taking the time to be here today. I do not plan to keep you very long.

"My decision to not sign the Sokovia Accords has brought me here and labeled me as a criminal. This was not a decision that I made lightly. And my decision has cost me more than you now. But, it is a decision I would make over and over again.

"The Sokovia Accords, yes, are well-intended and the reasons behind their creation are sound. However, the reasons behind the Avengers are sound as well. The Avengers were brought together to fight the fights that no one else could and do as much good as possible. And that has left us in the difficult position that there were casualties in each and every fight we were in.

I am personally apologizing for myself and my actions recently. My judgement was clouded and I was distracted – the information that James Barnes, my best friend from childhood, was still alive. But nonetheless, what I do, as Steve Rogers and Captain America has always been and will always be for the greater good.

"I'm here turning myself in today so I can protect my friends, my family, my team. The UN has agreed to drop the charges for my fellow teammates: Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Scott Lang, Clint Barton and my fiancé, Sharon Carter."

People in the world went crazy at Steve's announcement and Sharon was surprised to hear it as well. They hadn't talked about making this public yet. Tony continued to hold Sharon's hand to try to be supportive.

Steve waited until the fuss died down before he continued on.

"I submit to the UN and I'll take the punishment that I'm given. But I won't stop fighting to protect the world; I won't stop doing what I can to keep our earth safe. Thank you, again, for taking the time to be here today."

He nodded and took a step back to signal that he was done. The guards stepped up and stood on either side of Steve while Secretary Ross stood up as well.

"Captain Steven Rogers will be remanded to the maximum security prison at the Pentagon while he awaits a trial. He will be tried on the UN-level; he will be held responsible for his actions after not signing the Sokovia Accords as well as aiding and abetting a fugitive. As per the agreement made with Captain Rogers, the UN has elected to drop the charges for Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff and Sam Wilson. The charges against Sharon Carter still need to be decided upon. We will not be taking any questions at this time; a separate conference for news outlets will be held at a later date. Thank you."

Secretary Ross nodded at the group of UN delegates in the audience to indicate that he was finished as well.

Steve was being ushered out of the room and guards were coming at Sharon and Tony. Sharon was almost to the point of hyperventilating as she watched the guards coming with handcuffs. But she wasn't going to fight them.

"No, this is a mistake. This whole thing was so Sharon wouldn't have to…" Tony argued as his goddaughter was handcuffed behind her back.

But Sharon was shaking her head. "Don't worry," Sharon said. "I'll be fine."

"I'll come bail you out," Tony said. "I'll work this out with Ross – " he said. Sharon moved to kiss him on the cheek.

"I'm not surprised that this is happening," Sharon said. "I'm just hoping that Steve is taking it okay," Sharon said.

But Steve wasn't taking it well. In fact, if he had the strength, he would have knocked his armed escorts out and made a run for it. Ross had lied to him; after everything. And Steve was not happy about it. Unfortunately for him, the strength dampening cuffs were doing their job too well. He had just enough strength to keep himself upright as he walked.

He was first moved outside, half a dozen guards were escorting him to the awaiting vehicle. He could hear the roar of the crowd – half cheering that he was going to pay for his crimes and the other half mourning the loss of their hero. Steve was trying to block it all out, but he was having no success.

Secretary Ross had his own team of guards escorting him out as well. The people supporting Cap were booing as soon as they saw him. He paid them no attention at all.

Then finally a team of guards was bringing Sharon out. What he'd tried to avoid was happening anyway and there wasn't a damn thing Steve could do to stop it.

Steve was nearly at the armored vehicle that would be taking him to the Pentagon when a flash in the distant building caught his eye. He barely had the time or strength to do what he did next, which was pushing his guards out of the way to protect them and Ross as the bullets flew. A hot, searing pain entered his side and chest, but he'd managed to get everyone out of the way.

Tony Stark was stepping out of the building as the bullets flew and Steve called out for him to get down just in time. A bullet flew just past him and ricocheted off of the stone wall. He ducked down and realized that Steve Rogers had been hit and his goddaughter, Sharon Carter was struggling to get him to stay conscious.

Tony looked up to determine where the bullets had come from. He reacted instantly, his Iron Man suit coming together on his body in seconds and Tony was on his way to find the sniper.

…

Author's note: So , what did you think? Let me know!


	12. Chapter 11

Author's note: thanks all! Here's the next chapter!

Aftermath

Chapter 11

Tony Stark – Iron Man – had just stepped outside of the Senate building. He'd watched his friend and his goddaughter both be arrested. It was not a sight he enjoyed at all. The two were led out in silence and Tony had seen the telltale slump that the strength dampeners caused. He knew, because he had created them. Tony just never thought he would see them in use on Captain America.

And something else he wasn't prepared for were the bullets that were flying in their general direction. He saw Steve push his escorts out of the way and saw a bullet or two hit him. Moving again, Steve pushed Secretary Ross out of the way and took another couple of hits.

Tony then watched as Steve was in obvious agony as he was trying to get to Sharon, but she was pushing her own escorts out of the way of the projectiles. Steve fell down to the ground and Sharon rushed to him.

In a split second, his Iron Man suit came flying towards him and assembled itself around him. He deflected bullets for each Steve and Sharon, before breaking the chain on Sharon's handcuffs. She would have to tend to Steve because Tony was going after the shooter.

"Friday, I need you to find me the shooter," he said in a voice that sounded foreign to him. A salty tear rolled down his cheek and stopped at his lips. "Come on!" he shouted at his AI.

"Shots were fired from the northeast corner of the hotel directly in front of you, boss. Either the twentieth or twenty-first floor…"

"Which is it?" he yelled.

"Hold on…"

"I don't have the time to…"

"Twenty-one, Mr. Stark," the AI reported.

Tony was flying at a speed he hadn't used in a long while. He left behind the scene that he wouldn't be able to help much with and headed for the hotel.

…

Sharon was moving on sheer adrenaline at this point. Steve had bullet wounds all over his torso and one in his leg. The weakened state he'd been left in because of the cuffs was causing more of an impact that Sharon cared for.

A couple of the guards he'd saved and Secretary Ross moved to Steve's side to try and help, too. Ross was screaming about an ambulance.

"Ms. Carter…" he said, trying to let some of the experienced guards perform CPR.

"No."

"You're bleeding, too," Ross said.

He pulled out his handkerchief and wrapped it around Sharon's bicep.

"I need to…" She trailed as she struggled to move towards Steve. "Stay with me, Steve!" Sharon said, but she knew that it was basically no use. He was too weak to start with and now he'd lost too much blood already.

An ambulance screeched to a halt as the remaining crowd (those who hadn't run away when the bullets began to fly) were watching in horror.

Everything was fuzzy to Sharon as an IV of fluid was pumped into Steve and the paramedics took over on CPR. She struggled to focus on what people were saying to her, but she couldn't. She thought she was going to throw up or pass out as they said they couldn't find a pulse.

A portable defibrillator was brought out and someone yelled _clear_. _Still nothing_ , one paramedic said to the other. Steve's body was shocked again. After the third time, the male paramedic confirmed a faint pulse.

Them Sharon was being loaded into the back of the ambulance with Steve. She had no idea who had walked her over there.

Sharon watched as the male paramedic continued to work on Steve, administering medications and taking readings on his vitals. The other medic, a young woman, was driving and calling in their ETA to the ER.

"We need to get the cuffs off of his wrists," Sharon said in a small voice.

"What?" the medic said.

"They were designed to keep him weak and they might be adding to his injuries."

Sharon started to work on the right wrist while the medic looked at the left.

"How do these things come off?" he asked.

"Um…" Sharon struggled to remember. She'd read about them in a file a long time ago. She found a button on one side and after too much of a struggle, both of the cuffs deactivated.

Both Sharon and the paramedic waited with bated breath to see if it would help. Sharon let out a tiny sob of relief when Steve's chest began to move up and down.

"So…" the medic began. "Vitals are stabilizing. We'll be at the ER in two. We should look at your arm."

"Bullet just grazed it. I'm fine," Sharon said – her mouth dry as she watched Steve.

"Well, you'll have to be checked out because he'll likely be headed straight to surgery," the paramedic told her.

As they got to the hospital, the doctors and nurses that met them in the ambulance bay did not even try to hide their surprise to see Captain America rolling in on a gurney.

Sharon followed the eager doctors and nurses in, swatting some away that were trying to assist her. The handkerchief that was tied around her wound was now soaked through with blood.

She wasn't going to be allowed into the room. She was told to sit tight; that someone would keep her in the loop. A nurse came in with a packet of paperwork to fill out. Sharon stared at the clipboard for a second but she couldn't wait; she wasn't going to be able to sit there. She left the exam room and turned the corner. She ran straight into Tony, still in his Iron Man suit with his mask up. It _whooshed_ back as soon as he saw her.

Both continued on to the double doors of the trauma room where Steve Rogers was having his heart shocked again.

"He'll be okay," Tony said, putting his arm around her. "He'll…"

They shocked him again and Sharon turned into Tony's metal-covered shoulder.

A doctor popped out into the hall to speak with them.

"A couple of quick questions, um, Mr. Stark," he said tentatively.

"What?" Tony barked.

"His real name is Steven Rogers? And his birthdate is…"

"July 4, 1918," Sharon replied.

"And do you know if the Captain has a DNR?" he asked.

"No – get back in there and fix him up," Tony said.

"He's got four entry wounds and only one exit. We'll be moving him to surgery as soon as he's stable," he said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Tony replied.

The doctor moved back into the trauma room and relayed the information to his fellow medical staff.

"Um…" Sharon said.

"I think we need to have your arm checked out," Tony said. "How 'bout we do that, kiddo?"

"I'm fine, fine," Sharon said. "I don't want to leave…"

The doctors indicated that they had a good rhythm and were packing up to move him out. His suit has been cut off of him and was now laying shreds on the floor of the trauma room with the bloodied gauze.

"I'm going to be sick," Sharon said, running for the nearest trashcan after Steve had been wheeled by.

Tony held her hair as she vomited everything left in her stomach into the trashcan.

"I should – I should have tried harder to talk him out of this," Sharon said in a small voice while Tony rubbed her back.

"He's a stubborn old man, like me, and when he sets his mind to something, he does it. No matter what you said or did, he would have done the same thing," Tony said.

Tony replayed the image of Steve taking the bullets for total strangers over and over in his mind. Not only strangers, though, the man who wanted to see him locked up to be held accountable for all of the Avengers' actions since 2012.

"He's going to be all right."

"You don't know that. You have no idea," she replied.

"He put a Hydra ship into the ocean and survived the crash. Then lived through being frozen in a block of ice for 70 years. You don't think he can take a couple bullets? Shit, I'm going to tell on you when he wakes up," Tony tried to cheer her up. He successfully had her crack a smile, briefly, before succumbing to more dry heaves.

"You need to have your own arm checked out. You won't be any good to him if you bleed out. And he won't be happy if he finds out I let you."

"I need to go upstairs now," Sharon said.

"You _need_ to have this cleaned up," Tony said with more authority this time.

A commotion down the hall caught both of their attentions. Sam Wilson was charging past the sea of people to get to them. He succeeded and was with them a moment later.

"Sharon?" Sam said, looking at the bloodied fabric on her arm and her general state. "Are you okay? And Cap? We were on our way here anyway, but then it was all over the news and…"

"I don't know Steve's status right now. He was stable enough a few minutes ago to move to surgery, but…I don't know."

"Yes, they just moved him up to the operating room," Tony said.

Sam wouldn't turn to look at him.

"How badly was he hit?" Sam asked Sharon.

"I think the doctor said he had four hits," she said. "I…" she started but trailed off. It was clear that she was in shock.

"You need to get yourself checked out," he told her.

"You think I haven't tried to get her to do that?" Tony replied.

"I don't actually give a damn what _you_ tried to do, Stark," Sam said, again without looking at Tony. "C'mon, Sharon," he started to help her. Over his shoulder he called, "Maybe you should go up and check on Cap. Make yourself useful."

"I…" Tony started. If Wilson was wanted to fight him, he was damn near that point.

"Could you both stow the arguing until we find out how Steve is doing? I don't want to deal with anyone else being injured today. Tony, please go upstairs and find out how Steve is. Sam will stay with me til I'm cleaned up and we will join you."

"If that's what you want, Sharon," Tony said quietly.

"Yes. If he wakes up, I don't want him to be alone," Sharon said.

The word _if_ hit all of them hard. Tony was silent a moment before nodding.

"Okay. I'll be upstairs if you need me, kid," Tony said. He headed for the elevators and Sam went with Sharon back to the exam room.

Tony made his way up to the operating floor. He knew Rogers would be in surgery for a long time, but at this point, he was going to do what needed to be done for Sharon. And she wanted someone upstairs.

He thought about what he'd found in the hotel room when he'd gotten there. An LMD that wouldn't boot up and a young man who had either shot himself or had been killed by the bot. Either way, neither of the individuals in the room were any good for answers. Tony had done a cursory search for identification, but had found none. He didn't stick around after directing the police to the room. None of it had made sense.

The young man could only have been Sharon's age or maybe even younger. And it made no sense that he didn't have a wallet on him. Tony had given up his own search quickly in favor of letting the cops figure out who the room was registered to.

The elevator stopped on the floor he needed and he solemnly exited. Thankfully, the elevator had remained empty for the duration of his ride. Tony moved to the central desk as doctors and nurses were gaping at him. He said nothing. The admin working simply pointed and Tony followed their directions.

Another nurse beckoned him over and got him fixed up with sterile scrubs, gloves and a mask. She brought him into a viewing room where he could watch the team of people working on Captain Steve Rogers. And Tony was helpless as he could do nothing but wait.

Downstairs in the ER, Sharon was waiting for her stitches. The bullet had only grazed her, the doctor said, but she wanted Sharon to have stitches anyway because it still looked deep enough.

"Just keep taking deep breaths, Sharon," Sam said.

"Yeah, Sam, the plan _is_ to keep breathing," Sharon snapped. "I'm sorry, I…"

"You don't need to apologize," Sam replied. "Did Stark say if he'd gotten the shooters?"

"I…he might have but I can't process anything right now. I'm not sure how I'm still upright right now," she said.

"What happened?"

"We were being led out of the building, in handcuffs, because Ross decided that I wasn't going to be pardoned for my actions. We stepped outside and then the bullets began to fly. Steve got Ross and all of his escorts out of the way. I pushed my guards aside, too. But I couldn't get to Steve fast enough…" she trailed off. "What happens now?" she asked.

"We wait. We don't know anything, bad or good. So relax as best you can," Sam said as the doctor came into the room.

"Any news?" Sharon asked.

To be continued…

…

Author's note…so what did y'all think? Let me know!=


	13. Chapter 12

Aftermath

Chapter Twelve

As soon as she was cleared, Sharon was on her way upstairs to the OR. Sam followed behind her quickly into the elevator.

"No news is good news, right?" Sam asked as they moved upwards in the elevator.

Sharon shrugged. She had no idea. Sharon wasn't particularly superstitious, but she didn't want to jinx anything by saying something.

The floor of the building that housed the operating rooms was somber when the doors opened up. A nurse in dark blue scrubs met them and brought the two of them to where they could get sterile.

As they were led to the viewing room where Tony Stark stood watch, Sharon recognized the guards that Steve had taken the bullets for.

"He won't be going anywhere for a while, guys," Sharon said angrily.

"We aren't here to arrest him, ma'am. We're here to protect him," one guard said. "And you, too."

His response surprised Sharon and she blinked back a couple of tears.

She nodded. "Thank you."

The nurse led the two of them into the OR viewing room and found Tony staring through the window. Sam's face hardened when he saw the man and Steve, but Sharon rushed to Tony's side.

"Has anyone told you anything?" Sharon asked.

"No," Tony said quietly. "How are you?"

"I'm all fixed up. Did you know there were guards out there? The ones that Steve saved?"

"I heard the nurses telling them that they had to go, but they said they were staying put," Tony said without turning away from the viewing window.

"I wish someone would come tell me something – anything. Has he needed to be shocked anymore?" Sharon asked.

"No," Tony said. "But I have seen them take out two of the bullets."

"That's good, right?"

Tony nodded.

"What did you find at the hotel?" Sam asked.

"Now you want to listen to me?" Tony turned towards him.

"Guys," Sharon said in a simple warning. "We are all here for the same reason: that man in there," Sharon pointed.

Both men silently fumed for a moment.

"So…" Sam started.

"Yeah. I found an LMD that I couldn't get to turn on and a young man who had been shot dead. Probably by the malfunctioning LMD," Tony said.

"An LMD is what was shooting at us?" Sharon blinked. "I…"

"Whoever the LMD was controlled by was more likely the culprit," Tony pointed out.

"Any IDs?"

"None," Tony said. "The police were going to find out who the room was registered to."

"That's good."

"I wonder how long the surgery will take," Sam said.

"Probably six to eight hours. There's a lot to repair there," Tony said.

"Medically-speaking, shouldn't his increased metabolism speed up his healing process?" Sharon asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe?" Tony replied.

All they could really do was wait.

Two more hours passed and no one had told them anything. The three of them simply continued to pace. They were so focused that they had not heard Secretary Ross join them. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

"You're going to have to wait til he's off life support to take him to jail, Secretary," Sharon said.

His jaw twitched, but his words came out slowly and almost kindly. "Ms. Carter, even _I_ have more tact than that," he said. "And no one in the world would support me putting him in jail. What he did is being shared on every social media site and news channel worldwide. Captain America is a real hero. I'm simply here to get a status report on the Captain. I thought it would be more favorable in person."

"He's still unconscious. That machine…." Tony pointed. "…That machine is breathing for him because he took some bullets headed for you and your men."

"Mr. Stark," Ross began.

"Secretary Ross, thank you for coming, but now isn't a good time," Sharon interrupted. "It should be just us. Just…family," she finished.

He nodded. "All right. I can respect that, Ms. Carter. And you, are you doing all right?"

"The doc got me all patched up," she forced a smile.

"Glad to hear it."

He turned to leave and Tony pressed a kiss to Sharon's temple. "I'm just going to see Ross out."

In a small, quiet corner, Tony pulled the Secretary aside.

"Just what were you trying to accomplish by coming here? Were you trying to make sure your conscience was clear, or to make sure he wasn't faking the blood coming out of him?" Tony said in an angry whisper.

"You…"

"Oh, hell yes, I can talk to you like this. That guy lying in there…he's my teammate, my friend, my brother and he didn't hesitate to make sure that you and your men were safe. He took a bullet for you."

"You signed the Accords, Stark," Ross said. "My issue isn't with you."

"I wish I were half as brave as Rogers."

"Is it bravery or stupidity?" Ross asked.

"The man just turned himself in – because he believed in something – and then…"

"You told me the man he was trying to save murdered your parents," Ross replied.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Yes. But Rogers didn't kill them; Barnes did. Barnes – after he'd been brainwashed for 50 years by Hydra. And, honestly, I was too….too prideful to and too damn jealous to admit that Rogers was right. Rogers was absolutely right. The Accords are bull shit. And I no longer answer to them or to you. Consider this my resignation," Tony said before walking away, leaving a very speechless Ross in his wake.

Tony didn't regret it. He'd done a lot of questionable things in his life – renouncing his support for the Sokovia Accords didn't feel like one of them. He felt lighter than he had in weeks as he walked purposefully back into the viewing area.

"I'm one of you all now."

"And what, exactly, does that mean?" Sharon asked.

"It means, my dear, I just told Ross to go to hell and to take the Accords with him. I quit."

"You're done being Iron Man?" Sam asked.

"No," Tony smiled. "I _am_ Iron Man. And he's me. But Tony Stark _and_ Iron Man just quit playing by the rules. I was never good at it anyway."

Sam and Sharon watched Tony for a moment.

"And I should have done this a while ago," Tony said.

"I can't imagine that made Ross happy at all," Sharon said.

"No, but I did get to see that little vein on his forehead bulge. Now we just need Rogers out of surgery."

"That would be great, yeah," Sharon said. "So now we wait again."

…

Cathy Samuels was dancing with joy.

"You know, you really shouldn't be so gleeful at this. You killed your own grandson," Gary said from his seat at the kitchen table. He'd been tied there for a few hours now. "Are you really that proud of yourself?"

"You, actually…you killed our grandson…if you want to be technical about it," Cathy said. "How does that make you feel?"

"I'm pissed as hell that I married you, woman!" Gary shouted.

Cathy pretended to pout. "Awww…but I still love you! Despite all your many, many…many faults," she said.

"You're out of your mind!" he yelled. 

"Did you see that video?" she asked rhetorically. She'd made him watch it three times already. "Captain America and Sharon Carter, both carted off in an ambulance. That idiot took bullets for his police escorts as they were taking him to jail!" She smiled evilly.

"You're a despicable human being," he replied.

"And you've been married to me all this time. Know what, I would have liked to see Tony Stark take a bullet or two, just for being the smug jackass that he is, but…I got what I really wanted," Cathy said, ignoring her husband's comments.

"If I make it out of this, I'm getting a divorce and I'm making sure you get sent to the Raft with no visitors," he told her.

"Oh, Gary, Gary, Gary….you won't have to worry about all that. I doubt you'll make it through the end of the week," Cathy said.

"Well, you'd better hope that you _did_ murder Cap, because if he's still alive, he and his Avenger pals will find you," Gary told her.

"And how will they know it was me? I'm going to be leaving shortly and they'll only find _you_ here."

"You really are a psychopath."

"I love the pet names you come up with for me," Cathy laughed. "Now….I must get ready to go."

"Where are you going?" Gary asked.

"Well, I'm taking a tiny vacation," Cathy said. "I'm not one hundred percent sure on your plans, but I'm gonna make up my mind while I pack."

She continued to hum happily while she moved around the cottage. Gary had been almost devastated when he'd found out that he'd been working with Hydra inside of SHIELD for his entire career, but he'd managed to work through it. But now, to find out that he'd also been married to one, well, it was just too much. He wondered how he'd missed it all these years.

Essentially, his fate was sealed. Cathy would kill him, or have him killed, and everyone would believe that _he_ shot Captain America and that he was Hydra.

…

Captain Steve Rogers had been in emergency surgery for a grand total of seven hours and sixteen minutes. The skilled medical staff had repaired the hole in his lung and it had nicked an artery in his leg which they had also fixed up. All of the bullets had been removed and now he was sleeping peacefully in a medically induced coma so his body would have a chance to heal.

The guards had not left him, and Sharon, Tony and Sam hadn't either. In fact, Steve would very likely be embarrassed at the amount of attention he was receiving.

Sam had dozed off in a chair and left Tony and Sharon alone to talk quietly at Steve's bedside.

"You know he feels awful about what all happened."

"I know. And so do I," Tony said, rubbing his tired face.

"You should get some sleep, Tony," Sharon said. "He's going to be out for a long time still. And I've got this."

He shook his head. "Nope. I'm here with you both."

"You can go snuggle with Sam," she smiled a little.

"I hope you're joking, little girl."

"Of course I'm not. Sam…"

"I'm not cuddling with Stark," he said from across the room.

Sharon just smiled.

"So…what are your plans?"

"When?" Sharon asked.

"When the big guy wakes up," Tony replied. "I'm sure a pardon will be in the works now."

"Neither of us can bank on that," she replied. "And you know full well that Steve didn't do anything different than he would if he weren't on trial. He wasn't trying to win a medal or a pardon.""

"Believe me. I know, I know," Tony replied, leaning back in his chair. He put his hands behind his head and looked over at Sharon across the hospital bed.

"Do you plan on going back into hiding? Living the simple life? Do you have a weird farm like Barton?"

Sharon laughed.

"Nope. Not a farm. Don't have someone to maintain a farm when I'm not there," she said. 

"You're really not going to tell me where this place is?"

"No, I'm not," she replied. "It wouldn't be a secret hideout if I told you, would it?" 

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You were definitely trained by Fury."

"Who was trained by Peggy Carter," Sharon replied. "Secrets on secrets on secrets. It's the family business. Well, that and spending money."

"Where are your folks right now? Your brothers and sisters? Do they know you're all right?"

"I think they're in Europe still – I think that's what they'd decided to do after the funeral. Probably Ibiza or Monaco."

"Nice," Tony said sarcastically.

"You bet," Sharon replied. "You know, the smartest thing my parents ever did was to name you as my godfather."

"Uh huh."

"No, seriously."

"You're one of the few people I've ever truly loved, kiddo," he said.

"Can you both cut it out? I'm going to throw up," Sam groaned from his corner of the room.

He was snoring softly again once more in a second and both Tony and Sharon couldn't help but laugh to themselves.

"So, have you tried to get Pepper back yet? Without any giant stuffed animals?"

"Would you take me back when I'm like this?" Tony replied. "And no, she's busy running the joint and I'm just…here."

"She'll come around. She loves you. _All_ of you."

"You cleverly managed to avoid answering me, Sharon. What are your plans?" Tony asked.

"It's all very dependent upon what our charges end up being. I think, technically, Steve and I are prisoners. I'm probably not going to be able to walk freely out of this hospital," Sharon finished.

"I mean, I probably have a bounty on my head, too," Tony said. "I just quit the Accords," he replied.

His phone dinged and startled the both of them. He read the display.

"They found the hotel room registered to a Sydney Davis. Does that mean anything to you?" Tony asked.

"Yes," Sharon said slowly. She was almost unable to believe it. "It's, uh, one of my aliases. _The_ alias I used in…"

A couple of nurses and a doctor came shuffling into the room and interrupted their conversation. Sharon, Tony and now Sam watched as they administered medications and checked the machines.

A nurse walked over to Sharon. "He'll be okay – we believe," she told Sharon. "The doctor wants to keep him under for the remainder of the night and then tomorrow, if everything still looks good, we'll bring him out of it."

"Thank you," Sharon told her. It was music to Sharon's ears, to hear that Steve would be okay. But she was now in shock that someone had used her name. She had work to do before Steve was awake again.

…

Author's note: thank you kindly! Have no fear! Captain America is (sort of) okay! And I just wanted to tell you that you're all the best and I hope you have a terrific day!


	14. Chapter 13

Author's Note: So, I had these grand plans of updating last week, then on the 4th, then….whenever, but unfortunately real life has gotten in the way. Apparently, it's important to do work at work? Anyway, here is the latest update. And happy belated bday to Steven G Rogers – the MCU version turned 98 years old (right? Feel free to correct me on this)

Here is the next one…

Aftermath

Chapter 13

"I know it might come as a shock, but not all of us are as recognizable as Tony Stark or Captain America or Thor," Sharon said in a very sarcastic tone.

Tony Stark and Sharon Carter were pacing back and forth in Steve's hospital room and Sam Wilson was using a tablet computer and was reading the updated news coverage. The press wasn't getting many updates, but Sam was curious if they'd gotten the leak about the hotel room's registration.

"Listen, you," Tony started. "You need to relax and reign in your attitude a little bit," Tony said. "I'm in your corner. And I don't need your attitude."

He was right even though she really didn't want to admit it. Her mood was foul, but she felt it was warranted. The fact that someone was using her alias and was going to try to frame her for the attack on the Senate building. Sharon was absolutely not okay with that and her mood was reflecting it.

"Have they identified the LMD and the young man that was with him?" Sharon asked Sam.

He shook his head. "Doesn't look like it."

"I took a couple of pictures," Tony said. "But they're very…morbid," he said.

"May I see them?"

Tony hesitantly pulled out his phone and brought up the images that he'd received from the police department. Sharon gasped and nearly dropped the phone, but not because she thought it was gruesome, which it was.

"Holy shit."

"What?" Sam asked.

"You said the young man…he was dead? And then the older man was an LMD?" Sharon asked. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Tony replied. "Dead and LMD."

"I know them."

"You _know_ them? How?"

"They're my…Sydney's neighbors in Manistee. Gary Samuels – he's a retired SHIELD agent. He actually worked with Peggy. Gary took care of my place most of the time for me. He knows my _whole_ story," she explained. "And he knew about Steve, too. And Trevor," Sharon pointed to the other man in the photograph. "He's Trevor Samuels – their grandson. I've always thought he was weird, but…"

"How long have you known them?" Tony asked.

"I've known Gary practically my whole life. You don't recognize him?" Sharon asked. She pulled out her own phone and brought up a picture of Peggy Carter and her team from the early eighties. "See, that's Gary Samuels," she said.

"Who else lived with them? Anyone?"

"Gary's wife – Cathy."

"We need to find her."

"And the real Gary. You said this one was for sure an LMD?" Sharon asked.

"Yes, Sharon. I can tell the difference between a real person and an LMD," Tony replied. "And I'm pretty sure he's the one that put the bullet in your pal Trevor, which means he killed his own grandson," Tony pointed out.

"Sure seems like that," she said quietly.

Nothing was making sense to Sharon at this point. Steve was still in the medical coma and now this information on Gary Samuels' real identity – or at least his plans – were coming to light.

"I'm the one who told him where we would be. I told him the plans – I…" Sharon began. She started to hyperventilate. The realization that she had divulged the entire plan to Gary simply days before shot through her. She was going to throw up again.

She pushed away from Tony and ran for a bathroom. Once in a stall, she emptied the small amount of food that was in her stomach into a toilet bowl.

Tony followed her into the bathroom and waited for her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"That's a stupid question," Sharon replied back.

"This isn't your fault, Sharon," Tony replied.

"I'm the reason that Steve came to the cottage; that he even knew about it. I slipped him the coordinates. And I'm the reason that someone outside of _our_ secured phone line knew the _exact_ plans. I'm the one who told Gary the plans when he stopped by the other day."

Tony leaned on the edge of one of the sinks. "You thought you could trust him," he said. "And you very likely could – until he was replaced with an LMD."

Sharon slowly moved to the sink next to him to wash her hands and face.

"I might as well have been holding the gun myself, Tony," she said.

"That's…over-dramatic."

"Is it? I'm a SHIELD agent and a CIA agent and I just…holy shit," Sharon said. "I just gave out the plan, like it wasn't a big deal."

"You knew Gary Samuels your entire life – why would you have thought otherwise? Why would you have thought you couldn't talk to him?"

"But now I'm questioning how long has he been an LMD? Forever? Is he Hydra?" she asked quickly. "I'm so confused," Sharon said.

"You need to slow down. We will investigate but we need to have Rogers awake first – he's priority number one," he said firmly. He was 100% serious.

"I need to go…"

"Go where? If he wakes up and you're not here, Sharon… You have to stay here until his condition is stable," Tony told her.

"Someone needs to check on his wife, Cathy. She – Cathy – has no idea that he was SHIELD or who I really am. And now her grandson is dead and…"

"Please take a deep breath and calm down," Tony replied and pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Probably…eventually…" Sharon said. "It's just a lot right now and I should be able to handle this…"

"You are," Tony said. "You're doing great. Just keep breathing…in and out. In and out. And you have to wait until Cap is awake before you go because I don't want to have to be the one to explain why you've left him in a hospital room by himself. You ready to go back and check on Rogers?"

She nodded. "Yes, let's go."

…

Steve Rogers awoke and blinked a few times. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light and then he tried to figure out where he was. He realized he was in a hospital bed and he wanted up. Steve really wanted to be up and out of the bed, but he had too many tubes coming out of him.

"Hey, hey…" Sam said quietly as he realized that Steve was awake. "Settle down, man. You need to lay still."

"What the hell happened?" Steve asked in a hoarse voice. He'd only recently been extubated.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Sam asked.

"Was I…shot?" Steve asked.

"A few times," Sam grinned. "You managed to save a whole lot of people, Steve."

Steve's eyes went wide with panic. "Sharon?" he asked.

"She's fine, man," Sam replied to his unasked question. "She's somewhere in hospital with Stark. She needed to go for a walk."

"How long have I been out?" Steve asked.

"Just twenty four hours," Sam said.

"And you…? What are you doing here?"

"You've got some weird obsession with ending up in hospital beds and I'm just sitting here waiting for you…like always," Sam laughed.

Steve managed a small laugh, but stopped when he realized how badly it hurt him to do it.

"I must have taken one to the chest?" Steve asked.

"You had a collapsed lung," Sam replied. "And a couple in your leg and one in the arm. You went into cardiac arrest a couple of times – you had your heart shocked."

Steve closed his eyes in an attempt to process everything Sam had just said. And he was grateful that Sam was there, but he really wanted to see Sharon.

"So…the biggest news is this: Stark told Ross to stick the accords where the sun don't shine," Sam said. "According to Stark, he's with us now."

"What?"

"He said he said he wouldn't follow the Accords," Sam said.

"That's…a lot to process," Steve said.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked.

"I feel like I've been hit by a bus," Steve replied. "Was anyone else injured, or…"

"Nope. You pushed everyone out of the way," said Sam. "You're a real hero, Steve."

Steve shook his head. "I wasn't trying to prove that or anything. I was just trying to make things right with the Accords and…"

He stopped talking when his eyes fell upon Sharon in the doorway of the room. No one said anything for a beat.

Sharon was the first to speak. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "Can I get you anything? I should go get the doctor or a nurse," she said before hurrying back out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Steve asked Sam and Tony.

Tony shrugged. "I have a genius IQ, but I will _never_ understand women," Tony replied. "Especially Sharon."

"She's okay, right?" Steve asked.

"Physically, yes. She's totally fine. She had a bullet graze her arm, but mentally, she'll be better now that you're awake," Tony answered him.

Steve nodded slowly. "Any word on who the shooter is?" Steve asked as he slowly sat up in the hospital bed.

"You should just relax, Steve," Tony said.

"Yeah, we can handle it," Sam told his friend.

" _We?_ " Steve asked.

"Yeah – I'm going to give Stark here the benefit of the doubt and trust him."

"Thanks, man," Tony said. "And we _will_ take care of…"

The many members of the medical staff came rushing into the hospital room and interrupted their conversation. Sharon hung back in the doorway while they got to work checking on Steve. Sam and Tony joined her to keep themselves out of the way as well.

"I would have thought Cap would have gotten a warmer greeting than that," Sam teased her. "You know, since he's fine and all…"

"I just – I'm staying out of the way," Sharon told him.

"Oh, don't go being a martyr now," Sam said. "I've seen the two of you carrying on."

"Hey, hey…" Tony said. "I don't need to hear this."

"I just don't want to be out of the way," she repeated more adamantly this time.

"Kiddo, he needs you right now," Tony said.

"I've gotta go," Sharon replied.

"What?" Tony and Sam said together.

"Please, tell Steve I'll be back as soon as I can," she told Sam and Tony. 

She gave them each a pleading look while a group of people were stopped by the guards that were still at Steve's hospital door. In an instant, Sharon slipped out while the guards were keeping the people at bay.

Tony and Sam knew better than to try to stop her, but they didn't want to have to explain it to Steve either. But someone, or two someones, were going to need to say and make sure that Steve was all right and that he got his questions answered. And it looked like it was going to be the two of them.

Besides, Tony had managed to place a small tracking device on Sharon; he'd know exactly where to find her, if and when he needed to.

The medical staff taking care of Steve couldn't hide their shock at Steve's condition. Steve Rogers' metabolism, due to the super-soldier serum, had fought all of the coma-inducing medications in his system to wake him up. Not only that, he was healing at an incredible pace. At the rate he was going, he would be healed up in a matter of a day vs. weeks.

The doctors made their notes and some adjustments and left the room scratching their heads.

"Where did Sharon go?" Steve asked when the room had cleared out.

"She had something she needed to take care of," Sam said.

"But she said she'd be back as soon as possible," Tony added.

Steve's brow furrowed, almost sadly. "She left?" he asked.

"I…I wouldn't take it too personally, Cap," Sam said. "She just said she had to take care of a couple things. She apologized and said she'd be back."

Steve nodded. "Okay, well, tell me what we know about the whole thing."

…

A few blocks away, Sharon was walking into the meeting place that they'd decided upon.

"So, fill me in on what we know," a female voice said.

"Nat, you probably know more than I do at this point," Sharon sighed.

"Well, let's get to work," Nat replied.

…

Author's note: you know the drill….


	15. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Hi all! Thanks for bearing with me. I was on vacation and didn't have my laptop with me. You're all awesome for waiting for the newest update!

Aftermath

Chapter 14

As she and Natasha Romanoff walked in, Sharon couldn't hide her surprise and amusement that the room they'd added to the basement of the apartment building in DC still existed. It was built off of the laundry room and no one – not even the landlords knew it existed. It was a place Sharon could go to "work from home" should she need to stick close to Steve Rogers.

And as they'd crossed the threshold into the makeshift safe room, both knew it had been untouched the last two years.

"Not bad," Natasha said as she dusted off one of the desk chairs.

"Yep," Sharon said. "It did its job and held up."

"I'm a little surprised that the building's owner never noticed," Nat said. "But it's good. Really good."

"Do you think we're still connected to SHIELD servers? I hadn't been down here in ages after I broke cover that night," Sharon said to her friend.

Nat shrugged. "We could try, but if someone is monitoring access to old SHIELD records, then…"

"Right. I just am having a really hard time wrapping my head around Gary Samuels being an LMD and having shot at Steve and Secretary Ross."

"And we don't know when he was replaced with an LMD," Nat said.

"He could have always been one."

Sharon shuddered to think that Gary was actually Hydra and had been charged with protecting her Aunt Peggy.

"I know Peggy would have figured it out if something had changed."

"Ultimately, we need to get into the FBI building and have access to the LMD. Get the info out of him," Nat said.

"Tony should be able to do that," Sharon said. "He's worked with LMDs before," she finished.

"How is Steve?" Nat asked. "And how are you? Really?"

"I'm not emotionally compromised, if that's what you're asking," Sharon said. "I…"

"You aren't…"

"You aren't going to give me a speech, too, are you? About how I should let everyone else handle this? It's personal. Someone knows my alias and used it to book that hotel room. It was a personal message for me. And whether they intended to shoot Steve, or the Secretary, or me or whoever, I need…"

"Sharon, you don't have to do this alone. That's why I'm here. I don't want you to do this by yourself," Nat said.

Their friendship – strained at times – was now strong as ever. And both women knew they weren't going to throw that away.

"Okay, where do we start?" Sharon asked.

In total, Sharon and Natasha spent 45 minutes discussing a plan. They closed up their meeting space and went their separate ways.

Upon returning to the hospital, Sharon was uncertain how she would be greeted, but she found only the guards outside Steve's room. And only Steve in his room.

"Welcome back," Steve said as she quietly slipped in the room.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've had better days. You?" Steve said.

"Same."

"Where did you go?"

"I had to meet with someone…"

"Natasha," Steve said.

Sharon nodded. "It's only been an hour and you look a thousand times better already," she said.

"I'm a little sore, a little stiff, but the doc said they figure my metabolism – sped up because of the serum – is causing me to heal faster."

"Your heart stopped; three or four times, Steve," Sharon replied, her voice cracking.

"Come here," Steve said as he motioned for Sharon to join him on the hospital bed.

"No, I shouldn't, Steve."

"You haven't slept; Sam told me. We can take a nap together," he smiled. His smile was nearly impossible to say no to, but she shook her head no again.

"I'll lay down on the couch," she told him, squeezing his hand.

Steve knew he wouldn't win this one and simply nodded. He looked in her eyes and saw everything she wasn't saying: exhaustion, anger, confusion – a short nap wouldn't solve any of those things.

"How much has Tony told you?" Sharon asked as her eyes grew heavy.

"Not much; he's kept his distance."

"He found an LMD in the hotel room. An LMD of Gary Samuels. And also – Trevor was in the room, but he'd been killed," Sharon explained.

Steve was silent for a moment; thinking of answers, or at least a reply. Nothing came.

"And the room was registered to Sydney Davis," Sharon added quietly. "You know that I didn't…"

"Of course you had nothing to do with it," Steve said. There was never a doubt in his mind that Sharon's involvement was only the receiving end of a bullet. "Is Natasha tracking down the real Gary Samuels? Make sure he's all right? And what about his wife? We need to make sure Cathy is okay. Someone must have recognized us and are using them against us as now," Steve said.

Sharon yawned and nodded. "Nat is getting the band back together. She and I decided that you…"

Steve's eyebrow went up, partly from surprise, partly from amusement.

Sharon saw his reaction and waited to hear it before moving on.

"What did you and Romanoff decide?" he asked with a smirk. It was a look that clearly said it was cute that they would be able to make him do anything.

Sharon's smile finally matched his because she knew this argument would be futile. "We decided that you would remain here to recuperate."

"You want me to sit this one out," Steve replied, nodding.

"Well, yes," Sharon yawned again.

"You should take a nap and when you've slept some, we'll discuss it further," Steve said.

Sharon's eyes were closed by the time he'd finished his sentence.

When Sharon awoke next, she was finally hungry, but she still did not feel well-rested and her neck was sore from the position she'd slept on the small couch. And it took a moment for her to remember where she was, but she also quickly realized she was alone. Steve's bed was empty.

"Damn it!" she cursed loudly as she sat up. "Damn it damn it damn…"

She and her loud cursing were interrupted by Steve stepping out of the hospital. He had damp hair and was without a shirt on. He must have just completed showering when Sharon unceremoniously woke up and started to loudly curse.

"Why, hello Sleeping Beauty," he smiled. "How are you feeling after some sleep?"

"How long was I out?" Sharon asked while looking for the time.

"A couple of hours," Steve replied. "Some of the color has come back to your face. You must be feeling slightly better."

"I am, a little. How about you?" Sharon asked as she looked at the fresh scars on Steve's side.

"I'm okay, really," he replied. "I'm more worried about you. Tony said you were sick a couple of times."

"I was overwhelmed. I can handle blood and gore...it was the simple fact that it was you in the room. And I told the fake Gary all of the details of yesterday. I'm the reason that whoever was behind this knew every detail. I just gave it right out to him," Sharon said.

She was worked up again and starting to feel sick. And it had been hours since she'd eaten.

"Sharon, I missed it, too. I didn't notice, either. I never noticed a change."

"We don't know how long the LMD was in place. He could always have been one," Sharon replied.

"I hadn't considered that; you're right. That would mean he was _always_ an LMD or…"

"Or we missed when they swapped him out," Sharon said.

"Always a chance of that, yes," Steve said.

"Have you talked with Tony or Sam?"

"It's just you and I here right now," Steve said softly. "I sent everyone else to meet up."

"You're really going to sit this one out?"

"I'll make you a deal," he said as he sat down on the small couch next to her.

"You're making deals? Should you be making deals? You've recently been shot – kind of dead, too. Is that any condition to be making deals?"

"Are you flirting with me?" Steve asked.

"Is it working?" Sharon asked.

"Yes."

"What are the terms of your deal, Captain Rogers?" Sharon asked.

"If you sit out, I'll sit out this round."

"Interesting. But you know…"

"I know what?" Steve asked. "I know that you're nearly as stubborn as I am," he said. "And the only way I'm not going is if you're not going either."

"That isn't a deal, Steve. That's an ultimatum," Sharon replied.

"I don't want you to get involved, Sharon."

"I'm _already_ involved. I'm the one who brought this on you."

"No, you didn't."

"How do you figure that?"

"Sharon, you and I are on the same team and no matter what you say, I'm not going to get mad at you unless you don't take my deal."

"Then I'm going, too," he stood and pulled on his shirt. "Let's get out of here."

"You can't go. You were shot yesterday. And…I…"

"What?" Steve asked while he pulled on his shoes. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Sharon narrowed her eyes. "You're out of your mind. We're just going to keep going around and around."

"I could do this all day," he stood up to his full height.

"All right. I'll find out where they're all meeting up," Sharon said. She told herself it was just a meeting, but deep down she knew it was the first step towards action.

"How do you figure we'll be able to get out of here? Someone could be waiting for you again," Sharon said.

"That's just a risk I'm going to have to take."

"Maybe Tony could fly us in a favor," Sharon said.

After a quick phone call to Stark, a helicopter was in its way. Steve and Sharon had to sit on their hands for half an hour, but their ride would collect them on the roof shortly.

Tony was not pleased to have a newly-healing Cap and a shell-shocked Sharon leaving the safety of the hospital so soon, but he was fairly agreeable to get them the ride.

And an hour later, Natasha was landing them at Clint Barton's property: the farmhouse that you'd never find on a map no matter how hard you tried.

Steve Rogers was greeted with warm hugs from all the woman and Scott Lang and pats on the back from the others. Sharon hung back once more while members of the Avengers swarmed around their leader.

Sharon was zoned out and hadn't seen Tony approach her.

"You need a sandwich, kiddo," said Tony. "Like, a huge party sub loaded with all the good stuff."

Sharon's stomach rumbled audibly. It was so empty that it hurt. She knew she needed to eat something, but she was also afraid she'd lose it.

"I'm fine," Sharon lied.

"Maybe Cap will believe that _I'm fine_ bullshit, but I can't and I won't," Tony told her.

"Believe me, I know when fine isn't _fine_. And you, you're _not_ fine. You need to go inside and lie down after you have something to eat. Barton's wife has saved you some leftovers," Tony said.

"Sure, I go take a nap and when I wake up, all of the Avengers have gone off without me," Sharon said.

"Do you really think you're going to be left out?"

"Do you really think you're going to be left out?"

"Forced out. Because it's my fault, Tony," she said tiredly.

"If we were going to leave you out – _force you out,_ as you say – we would have left with Steve when you disappeared earlier. But we didn't, did we? And this isn't your fault. Now, quit acting like a child, Sharon. Quit pouting. And quit acting like the world is ending because you're not getting your way. We've all got work today."

Tony finished his speech and went to join the group once more. Everyone with the exception of Thor and Bruce Banner were there. And the team was back together once more.

't, did we? And this isn't your fault. Now, quit acting like a child, Sharon. Quit pouting. And quit acting like the world is ending because you're not getting your way. We've all got work today."

Tony finished his speech and went to join the group once more. Everyone with the exception of Thor and Bruce Banner were there. And the team was back together once more.

But Sharon knew that Tony was right. And she followed behind him to find some leftovers and a bed she could crash on. If they left without her, so be it. She was exhausted and had no more fight left in her tonight.

…

A/N: You know the deal! Please leave me a note! And thank you so much for reading!


	16. Chapter 15

Aftermath

Chapter 15

Sharon noted the pitied looks she got as she followed Laura Barton and the kids into the house. Nat followed along behind them as well.

"So, you need something to eat," Laura said after only one real look at Sharon. And it was a statement, not a question.

"Laura, please don't fuss," Sharon said. "I can make myself a sandwich or something."

She received a 'you must be joking' look in return. "Nope, you need something that'll stick to your ribs," Laura said while she began to pull the entire contents of her refrigerator out onto the kitchen counter.

"Really, I'll be okay once I've had a sandwich and a shower. Maybe a beer," Sharon laughed and Natasha nodded.

"Thank you for letting us meet here," Sharon said.

"Well, when the whole gang is getting back together, it's kind of a big deal," Laura smiled. "Even if Clint promised to retire."

"I'm not letting anyone fight," Sharon said. "This is…"

The kids came running from upstairs.

"Sharon!" they both shouted.

Both ran to her and squeezed her into a tight hug.

"You're both practically adults now! You have a girlfriend?"

The boy blushed. "No! But when I do have one, it'll be you!"

"I'm a bit old for ya, kiddo," Sharon said as she crouched down to his height.

"Nah!" Cooper Barton said.

"Okay, let's make a deal. In 20 years, if you haven't found some lucky person your own age, I'll marry you. Deal?"

"Deal," the young boy grinned.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Natasha laughed.

"You're my aunt, I can't marry you," Cooper said.

Hands on her hips, Natasha laughed.

It was weird, seeing the normal life that Clint had somehow created, and yet, Sharon truly wanted to find it for herself, too. However, before any of that could happen, she needed to find out who or what was behind the shooting of Captain America.

"Laura, really, any kind of simple sandwich will do. I'm so hungry. I'm not even picky anymore," Sharon said.

"Nope, I've got ham and scalloped potatoes and salad and rolls and…"

"Mommy," Lila started. "Can I show Auntie Nat and Sharon my garden?"

"Yeah, honey. You go show them your garden and I'll make Sharon up a plate of food," Laura smiled. Sure it was a full house but it was a lot of helping hands with the kids.

"Why don't you go with your sister and Nat and Sharon?" she said to Cooper.

"Sure," he said before rushing to open the side door for Sharon and Nat and Lila.

Steve was still outside talking amongst the group as the two women were led out of the house and around back.

Both Steve and Tony watched as Sharon and Nat disappeared behind the house with the two kids. But everyone was busy catching up, even though it had only been a matter of weeks and neither could step away from the conversation.

"They'd shut the LMD down into an encrypted status," Tony told the group.

"LMD?" Wanda asked. She'd received a grade A training session when it came to the Avengers but they'd skimmed a lot of the topics that were few and far between – or so they thought.

"Life Model Decoy – created to emulate human traits; they're usually designed to emulate a _specific human's_ traits," Tony explained. "And this one is built to be a neighbor of Sharon's. Someone she trusted."

Wanda gritted her teeth. She wasn't Sharon's biggest fan, but not a lot could be done about that. Especially at the current time.

"Do you think you could get it going again?" Wanda asked.

Everyone turned expectantly at Tony.

He shrugged. "Of course I can," he replied. "I just didn't stick around too long because Cap was unconscious and bleeding out on the steps."

No one questioned him further. However, Steve clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you. For everything," Steve said sincerely.

"Don't thank me til we figure out the person or persons responsible for all this."

"You deflected more bullets and went after the shooter. And you looked after Sharon."

"This Sharon – she's the reason you're in this whole mess," Wanda chimed in.

"I suspect that whoever hoped to kill me would have taken _any_ opportunity to do so," Steve told her. "Sharon…"

"Simply made it easier for this person to do so," Wanda replied. "Perhaps you should consider that since she left you the coordinates to a place you never knew she had that maybe it was a trap? She led you there because it was all part of the plan?" she asked.

"There is _no_ way," Steve said.

"Nothing in this world or the next would make me believe that about Sharon," Tony added.

"Believe what you want, gentlemen," Wanda said. "But I do not trust her. How do we know for certain that she is not one of those decoys like the shooter? Or perhaps she was controlling him?"

"I know," Steve said firmly, but without elaborating on the details.

Wanda took a step towards Steve. "Do you? How? How could you say for certain? With all due respect, Steve, the person that Sharon trusted fooled you. Sharon could be doing the same."

"I mean, she does have a point, Captain America," Scott said. Apparently doing battle alongside him did not qualify for use of first names.

"I just know," Steve said more firmly.

"Oh…" Clint said and a pink rose into Steve's cheeks.

"Fee free to read my thoughts, if you do not believe me, Ms. Maximoff," Sharon added.

"That won't be necessary," Steve said, first looking to Sharon and then over to Wanda. "All right?"

Wanda looked up to Steve, respected him and was as protective of him as she was of Pietro. And she didn't want this person overstepping her bounds.

"No, she won't believe that I had nothing to do with this until she's seen inside my head. I'm willing to let her do that because I have nothing to hide," Sharon said.

Steve stood directly in front of her ignoring everyone else around them. "You have nothing to prove."

"Nothing? It looks like even Tony is putting facts together in his head. And I do not like that," Sharon said.

"Sharon Elizabeth Carter, I've known you since you were four days old. And this is you. Stubborn, strong-willed, wounded and exhausted, you," Tony said dramatically.

Steve nodded, agreeing with Tony's statement and Clint and Natasha agreed as well. It was Wanda Maximoff that still had her doubts. And Sharon could see that.

"You have my permission to see inside my head. Just don't judge me when you see I feel the same way about you that you feel about me," Sharon told her.

Fifteen minutes later, after Sharon had wolfed down a plateful of Laura's home cooking, Steve, Sharon and Wanda were on the back porch of the farmhouse.

"You really don't need to do this," Steve said. "I know you. And I know you're not a robot and I know you're not trying to kill me," he said in a loud whisper. "I love you."

"And I love you, too. But I think deep down you really need to know. And I've got nothing to hide."

"I know. And that's…"

"I'm ready," Sharon said, cutting Steve off.

Steve moved aside and Wanda cautiously took his place. She was slightly shorter than Sharon, but not intimidated by her at all. They both nodded at one another and Wanda slowly brought her hands up on either side of Sharon's head.

At first, all Wanda could see was sheer exhaustion and frustration. Then, delving deeper, she saw the sadness and regret that Sharon was plagued with. But, as she said, there was nothing about robots or plots to destroy Steve Rogers. There was only a deep love and respect for the man that waited with them.

A newly exhausted Wanda finished and started to fall forward. Sharon reached out and caught her before Steve could. Together, Steve and Sharon set the weakened Wanda on one of the chairs.

"Are you all right?" Sharon asked her.

"I'll…be fine," Wanda said, looking up with big eyes at Sharon. "I'm just affected my some more than others."

Steve waited silently for the report from Wanda, since they'd gone through the whole ridiculous exercise.

"I was wrong, Sharon. And I apologize," she said before turning to Steve. "She loves you very much."

He nodded while holding an arm out for her to brace herself with to stand.

"Now that I've made a fool of myself, I will retire for the evening. Good night."

"Will you go lie down now?" Steve asked.

"Do you trust me?" Sharon asked.

"With my life."

"Did you believe me a moment ago?" Sharon replied.

"That you love me? Of course," he smirked. "And that you weren't an LMD? Of course, to that as well. You just seemed to need to prove it."

"I was making sure no one had hypnotized me or something. In case I'd forgotten what I'd done."

"I'd forgive you. Like Bucky."

"You and Bucky have a hell of a lot more history than you and I do, Steve."

"That's what you think," Steve said before pulling her into his arms. He kissed her, with all of the pent up, well, everything.

There was nothing certain about the following days. Someone, somewhere, had tried to kill him and were trying to make it as personal as possible. But Steve knew with his team regrouping and he and Sharon recovering, things would be improving.

"That is what I know, Sharon."

The final word from the Captain.

He held her left hand up and showed her the ring on it. "You don't think I would give this to just anyone, do you? That I didn't know what I was doing?" Steve asked rhetorically.

Sharon nodded.

"I know you're not an LMD. Remember? We've spent the last several weeks alone?"

"So what do we do now?" Sharon asked as she leaned her head onto Steve's chest.

"First, sleep," Steve said. "Well, for you and the others," he said as the sun was setting.

"But then what?"

"We need that LMD. We need Tony to get into it and see what information it holds," he replied. "And…"

"None of us are on the FBI's favorites list right now."

"That is a plan to be made during breakfast, Sharon. You can continue to stay in my arms tonight."

Someone clearing their throat interrupted them, attempting to get their attention. Sharon knew Steve's views on PDA and she tried to free herself of his grasp. He wasn't letting go; she was staying put apparently.

"The kidlets are off to bed and they wanted to say goodnight," Tony said uncomfortably.

"We'll be right inside," Steve answered for the both of them.

Tony nodded and moved back inside the house.

"We should go inside," Sharon said.

"I just would like one more minute of silence with you," he smiled.

"That's…really sweet," she replied.

"Let's get married," Steve said.

"I think, and due to extreme exhaustion and maybe delirium, but…I think we've already talked about this, right? You've already asked me to marry you and I said yes," she held up her hand again. "Right?" she asked again.

"Yes, we – you said yes to marry me," Steve smiled.

"But you're thinking somewhat sooner?" Sharon replied. "As in…?" she asked.

"What about tomorrow?" Steve replied.

"I must be more tired than I thought," she laughed. "And I can assure you that I'm very tired," she added.

"I was just thinking with everything being so uncertain…" Steve started. "It was just a thought. You will need your family there and I would like to have Buck there, too."

Sharon nodded. "yes, those things are both important. And you were kind of dead for a couple of minutes, Steve. And it was less than 24 hours ago."

This time it was Steve's turn to nod his understanding. But he wasn't convincing at all.

"You don't agree with me," Sharon stated.

"Let's go inside and say good night to Lila and Cooper," Steve smiled as he slung his non-sore arm around her shoulders.

"To be continued…" she whispered as they walked back to the house and the rest of the group.

…

A/N: thanks so much for the read! Let me know what you thought!


	17. Chapter 16

Aftermath

Chapter 16

"How should we split folks up?" Laura asked. "Some people in the guest house and…" she trailed off. She was counting; there were a lot of visitors.

Steve opened and closed his mouth. He didn't know what to say either. He knew Sharon and Wanda in a room wasn't an option – Wanda still didn't trust Sharon. And truthfully, he wanted to be alone with Sharon anyway.

"I do not need a bed," the Vision told them.

"He and I will double up," Tony added.

"Me and Romanoff will take a room," Sam laughed.

"I think Wanda and I will be fine, right?" Nat asked Wanda. Wanda nodded in agreement.

"That leaves me and Tic Tac. I don't think that's…"

"Hey!" Scott said with a furrowed brow.

"It's _one_ night," Steve said. "You'll be fine."

The two men eyed each other and Sam shook his head at Scott's friendly smile.

"Will you two be all right in the den? We have a sofa bed and we've got a cot…" Laura began.

"Sofa bed! Dibs!" Sam shouted before receiving a full chorus of people shushing him. His victorious grin changed to a sheepish look as he remembered the sleeping children upstairs.

"Nat and Wanda, upstairs guest room?" Laura asked.

"I'll show Wanda. See you in the morning, folks," Nat said. Wanda nodded her good night and followed silently behind Nat out of the room.

"Sam, Scott, you can follow me. I'll get you both settled in. Clint, would you show the others to the barn?"

Clint nodded, kissed her on the cheek and beckoned the others that were left to follow him out the door.

Outside, Clint spoke. "We took the time to remodel since the last you were all here," Clint said as he led them to the barn. "Made up a couple more guest rooms."

"In a barn? With animals?" Tony asked.

" _Above_ a barn, Stark," Clint replied. "As much as I would love to be giving you a room with pigs and sheep, I have none of those and a loft above the main barn. Two bedroom, a bathroom and a small kitchenette in the open space.

He led them up a flight of stairs and paused to open the door at the top then led them inside. Clint flicked the lights on and smiled.

"Did you do this yourself?" Sharon asked.

"I had some help, but…"

"Wow! This is amazing, Clint," she said.

"Yeah, nice work, Hawkeye," Tony said. "Both of the rooms have two twin beds in them," Clint said.

"That's fine," Sharon said hurriedly. Probably too hurriedly.

Clint and Tony cautiously glanced at Steve, who was doing his very best not to react at all.

"Okay, well, breakfast will be at oh-seven hundred," Clint told them.

"Please hold my wake-up call til noon," Tony yawned.

"If you're plannin' on breakfast, you'll be up and going by oh-seven hundred," Clint replied.

"Gee, thanks," Tony said.

"Thank you, Clint," Sharon said.

"No problem, Sharon," Clint smiled. Towels are in the bathroom closet. Blankets are in the bedrooms. If you go out walking, keep an eye out for coyotes," Clint told them. "See you in the morning."

Clint closed the door and left the four of them in the tiny open loft space. It had no TV or computer and Sharon relaxed tremendously. She wasn't ready to relive it all on the news.

"Sharon, which of the two rooms would you prefer?"

The two rooms were identical and shared a bathroom between them.

"It honestly doesn't matter. Tony, you'd prefer left, though, is that correct?"

"Yes, please," Tony replied.

Steve gave Tony an odd look, then looked to Sharon, who simply shrugged. "He's always preferred everything on the left. Just so long as it isn't being handed to him."

Tony nodded. He was headed for the door to the room. Honestly, he wanted a moment, too. He'd been on one side 48 hours ago and now the Avengers were being called to action once more. He needed to figure out the situation, too.

"Do you all mind if I grab a shower?" Sharon asked the other men in the room.

"No problem," Steve said.

"Of course," the Vision nodded – it wouldn't bother him.

Tony eyed her suspiciously, but said nothing.

"Okay, thank you, fellas," Sharon said. She nodded at the three men and disappeared into the room on the right.

"Maybe I should stay out here," Steve said.

"I was going to ask if you caught that," Tony said.

"I may not have a ton of experience with women but I _do_ know Sharon," Steve said.

"No, you shouldn't stay out here. After your extensive injuries, even though you've healed, Captain Rogers, you should have a good night's sleep to further your recovery," the Vision said.

"I agree with him," Tony said. "She's not mad; she's just tired."

"It's been a long couple of days," Steve agreed.

"So no hanky-panky, gosh darn it," Tony laughed.

Steve looked very uncomfortable and so did the Vision.

"I'm going to go to bed, then," Steve said. He nodded his good nights and moved into the other room. Steve closed the door behind him with a soft click.

Tony and the vision were left alone.

"Do you even sleep?" Tony asked.

…

Inside, Wanda and Natasha were getting ready for bed as well. But Nat needed some questions answered.

"What exactly is your problem with Sharon?" Nat asked Wanda.

Wanda was silent for a beat. She knew that Natasha was friends with Sharon and anything she said would go right back to them. And then Wanda realized she didn't care.

"I do not trust her," Wanda said. "It's simple."

"Sharon is ex-SHIELD and CIA," Nat replied.

"So? Should that mean something to me? Because it does not," Wanda replied.

"You saw inside her head," Nat argued. But then she realized something. "Oh. You're jealous."

"Of what?"

"Of their relationship. You bonded with Steve when Pietro died. And you never knew Sharon. Now, you think you're…"

"Don't be ridiculous," Wanda said from her twin bed. "I am not jealous of Sharon Carter," she said.

Nat didn't believe her at all.

"Okay, I'm sorry I said anything," she said to Wanda. "But you have to know that Steve obviously isn't the kind of man who turns his back on his friends. Your friendship with Steve is in no danger. Might be now, though…"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Honestly, Steve will probably be pleased that you weren't afraid to challenge him," Nat said. "Good night."

Nat turned off the light between them and hoped that Wanda would think more before started accusing people without all of the evidence. And Nat knew how guilty Sharon felt already.

…

Sharon really wanted to soak, alone in the tub, for as long as she could but she was sharing with several others. Instead, she pretended that the shower was good enough and hurried out of the bathroom.

Steve was sitting on the end of the bed that was the furthest from the bathroom door. A super-soldier's version of space – literal space – in the 11'x12' bedroom they had for the night.

"Hey," Sharon opened with. In all honesty, she had _no idea_ what to say what to say. He'd proposed three days ago and now he wanted to get married tomorrow.

"Hi," Steve said cautiously.

"How are you feeling?" Sharon replied.

"Mostly just stiff. A bit sore where they removed the bullets," Steve replied. "Sharon, I…"

"May I?" she asked politely.

He held out his hands to allow her to have the floor. She came to stand directly in front of him.

"I love you, so much," she said first.

Steve braced himself for the end of the statement.

"And I wanted to marry you. But not tomorrow. I've already said yes. I just don't want to rush. Gives us something to look forward to, right?" she said with a small smile. "Do you understand?"

He nodded slowly and gathered her into his arms.

"I love you."

"Does that mean we can hold off on the wedding plans?" Sharon asked.

"Of course," he said, putting his head on her stomach.

"I've always had the fantasy of the white dress, church, and everything anyway…"

"You have?" Steve asked, a little surprised.

She nodded. "Yep," she said, then yawned. Steve yawned right after her.

"All right…bedtime," he said in a grateful tone. "Do you think we fit in one these? I don't want to let you go tonight."

"Push them together?" Sharon suggested.

Quietly, they brought the two beds next to each other and Steve stripped down to his boxer briefs before joining Sharon in the new big bed. He wrapped himself around her and she breathed in the scent of him. She was finally able to succumb to the sleep she so desperately needed.

Steve was asleep shortly after her.

Tony was the only one still awake in the tiny loft and he finally allowed himself some time to collapse as the shower drowned out his sobs.

…

The following morning, Tony was the last to arrive to breakfast and he was only 15 minutes late. Laura had done up enough to feed an army and everyone seemed to be getting along. Tony smiled at Lila Barton, who was sitting on Sharon's lap and she waved back.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark," she smiled.

"Good morning, Tony," Sharon also said.

"Good morning, Lila," Tony said while he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Good morning all."

"How did you sleep, Mr. Stark?" Laura asked.

He nodded after a long sip of coffee. "Very well, thank you. That loft is very nice," Tony said.

Steve nodded. "It was very comfortable."

"And the hot water held up?" Clint asked.

"Yep, I got the last shower last night and it was fine," Tony said.

"Can we have a tea party today?" Lila asked them all. "Mr. Stark, do you like tea parties?"

"Kiddo, I love tea parties, but I'm not sure we are gonna have time for the tea today. Maybe another time…" Tony replied.

"Yeah, honey, we'll have to let everyone be. They have work to do. You and I can have a tea party though."

"But I want Sharon and Auntie Nat and Mr. Stark to have it with us!" Lila whined.

"Lila, they have things to do," Cooper said. "I'll let you play in my tree fort today," he said and her eyes lit up.

"Thanks, buddy," Clint said to his oldest.

Breakfast continued amicably, Sharon still holding Lila on her lap. But as amicable as it was, everyone knew it would be getting a lot more tense when the kids left the room shortly.

And rightfully so.

As soon as Laura had the kids out of earshot, they all began to start to lay out all of the information on the table.

"Do you think we'll have any access to the LMD?" Sam asked.

"Maybe," Steve said. "Likely not."

"Where were they taking the LMD?" Clint asked.

"FBI was stepping in," Sharon said. "Probably CIA; maybe Homeland Security."

"How much access do you have to CIA intel?" Tony asked, around a long drink of coffee.

"None – remember?" Sharon said.

"Do you think you could fake your way in?" Natasha said.

"I might be able to access some files through the back doors," Sharon replied. "But that would only be the CIA files. If the FBI was the LMD of Gary Samuels, that won't do us any good."

"It'd be easier if we had the LMD," Steve said. "We could work with it on our own."

"I prefer this method, myself," Tony said.

"Is the hotel room still a crime scene or have they finished with that?" Clint asked.

Everyone shrugged. Without an ear to the ground, it would be impossible to know.

"I'll get a hold of Hill; see what she can dig up without calling too much attention," Tony said.

"But what we really need is a plan to get that LMD out," Sam said.

"Could you fly him out?" Clint asked Sam.

"And Wanda, we'll need you for sure. We don't want to cause any damage, but we will need to stun and immobilize some folks," Natasha said.

Two and a half hours later, a plan had been developed. It wasn't the best of the best, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

They were all considered traitors now anyway, so what was a little more breaking and entering into a federal building?

However, when Tony had finally gotten a hold of Maria Hill, she didn't have good news.

"The LMD of Gary Samuels came alive again and is currently holding almost 100 bureau officials hostage," Maria said. "It's all over the news."

"I was afraid of this happening," Steve said to Sharon.

"He's demanding to speak with you, Sharon."

….

To be continued…

…

Author's note: let me know what you're thinking!


	18. Chapter 17

Aftermath

Chapter 17

"What?" Sharon said. "It's active again and he's asking for me?"

"He demanded that several of the officials film his demand and post it to various social media accounts," Maria Hill told them over the speakerphone. "It's already been retweeted over half a million times in the last ten minutes and it's trending on YouTube."

"I've got it pulled up," Scott said, holding out his phone.

"I'll hold," Maria said. "You should watch the video."

The video was brief, only a minute in length, but it was very to the point. If Gary Samuels, the LMD, did not speak with Sharon Carter in two hours' time, he was going to begin to execute the folks in the room with him.

"Okay, so we need a new plan," Clint said.

"A new plan?" Wanda said.

"Extraction won't work now," Clint said.

"Even if we use Sharon as a distraction?" Scott asked.

"Excuse me?" Tony said angrily.

A muscle twitched in Steve's clenched jaw.

"I was just thinking that maybe we could send Sharon in to talk to the robot and we could rescue folks while she distracts him," Scott explained.

"And then he's got Sharon. We won't be using her as bait," Steve explained.

"It was just a thought," Scott said quietly.

"Our options are limited. We need to get going," Sharon said.

No one said anything for a very long pause.

"Okay, wheels up in 15 minutes," Steve said. "And Barton, I think you should stay with your family," he continued.

Clint Barton shook his head. "Cap, I…" he began, but Steve held up his hand to stop him.

"As much as we could use you, your family needs you, too," Steve said. "You should stay with Laura and the kids."

Clint nodded. "Thank you, Cap."

"Okay, everyone: gear up. We'll make the final extraction plan on the quinjet," Steve said.

"Twelve minutes," Steve said with a glance to his watch.

Steve got a confirmation nod from the group and they all dispersed to pack up what items they had with them.

Steve followed Sharon back up to the barn and into 'their' room.

"I don't suppose anything I could say would convince you to stay here with Clint and Laura, would it?" he asked.

She slowly shook her head. "Nope."

"Okay, so what do _you_ think we should do?" he asked while he helped her make up the beds.

"I think we're going to need to wing it. No one is going to be happy to see the Avengers and…" she trailed off as she thought to herself. "Instead of me sitting this one out, maybe you should?" Sharon said.

"Not if…"

"What if you'd died?"

"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you," Steve said.

"Obviously, the goal was to… _kill_ …you, Steve. You can't go running in there. It's gotta be a trap for you," Sharon said. "If…"

"I think…I think you're right. But I'm going with you all. I just won't go in. At least, not right off the bat," Steve finished.

"Part of me really does not believe that," Sharon smiled.

Steve smirked back at her. "I promise I won't go in unless you all really need me. But I will be in so damn fast if something changes."

"How are we going to talk to the FBI? They really won't like the Avengers rolling; especially since we're all traitors…"

"They could be glad that the hostage situation was taken care of," Steve said. "But I won't hold my breath."

"I just hope once the situation is contained, we aren't hauled off in the handcuffs," Sharon replied.

"Me, too. I've already had to break them out of prison once," Steve replied.

"Should they go?" Sharon asked.

"You're taking the team down to you, Tony and Natasha. I'm not saying the three of you wouldn't be able to do it, but why would you want to?" Steve asked her.

Sharon was silent for a beat, to compose the thoughts in her head. "I just won't want to jeopardize things further. The Avengers should be free; if I go to jail, it's not the same as if it's Sam or Clint or you…"

"Why do you think that?" he replied.

Sharon chuckled. "I'm not an Avenger," Sharon said quickly. "And truthfully, I'm okay with it. I'm grateful for the person I am and the skillset that I have, but one of my lots in life is that I'm not a superhero. I'm really okay with that. And if _I_ went to jail versus say, you or Thor or Tony, even, well, out of the public won't change much. One of you goes missing, everyone knows."

"Half of everyone wanted to see me go to jail," Steve said.

"Even so, the other half _didn't_ want you to go to jail. And they would be heartbroken if something happened to you," Sharon said.

"I'm just a kid from Brooklyn," Steve said.

"And you've done some extraordinary things in your lifetime, Captain. I'm not going to risk your demise anymore," Sharon said.

…

On the quinjet, Sharon brought everyone together to tell them her new thoughts.

"The LMD, or rather, whoever is controlling the LMD, wants to speak to me directly," Sharon began. "I'll agree to meet with it," she said. "I'll have Nat and Tony as my back if shit starts to go down and …"

"And us? What of us?" Wanda asked.

"You, me, Sam, Scott and the Vision will stay with the quinjet. We'll go in if we have to, but…" Steve began.

"And why is that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know if the Feds are going to be friendly with us or not," Sharon said. "I don't want to risk all of you being arrested in one fell swoop again. I also don't know if the pardon is going to be honored…"

"I mean, I would prefer to _not_ get arrested again," Scott piped up with a confident nod.

"You really want to go ahead with this?" Tony asked Steve in a low voice while Sharon continued her conversation with the others.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know what else we can do. I'm open to suggestions," he said to Tony.

"I could put together a makeshift EMD," he said. "But it comes with the risk of shutting _everything_ down," Tony said. "It would fry the LMD's circuits so we could extract it, but it would leave the bureau building and any data housed there, in a very exposed position."

"Is there such thing as a _small_ EMP?" Steve asked.

" _That_ would be the small one," Tony replied. "A normal-sized one would knock out a couple city blocks, at least."

"Do LMDs operate on a certain frequency?" Sam asked. "How does someone control it?"

"The low tech ones – the ones I've done work with all communicate on the same frequency," Scott said. "They were hive-minded so they could all be controlled at once. But the more sophisticated ones, like this one probably is, each send and receive on their own unique frequencies."

Everyone turned to look at Scott Lang.

"What? You all thought I was stupid, right? Well, newsflash, I _do_ know a few things."

"Mr. Lang, we have 19 minutes until we arrive at our destination," Steve said in a serious tone. "I suggest you share any and all of those _things_ you know about LMDs."

18-and-a-half minutes later, a _new_ plan was put together. A much better plan since Scott had shared his knowledge on the workings of LMDs. And this plan actually had a shot at working.

The building was barricaded off from street access with a four block perimeter on all sides and helicopters were patrolling the sky above it. Luckily, the quinjet was equipped with reflector panels that allowed it to blend and become invisible. It landed on an empty street inside the barricades just a block from the actual building. Black Widow, Agent 13 and Iron Man emerged in full suits.

"Comm test…1, 2, 3…" Sam said.

"Romanoff."

"Stark."

"Carter."

"Now, the hostages are being held in a cafeteria," Sam explained. "That is on the second floor, west side of the building," he told them. "There are two entrances and four exits. Two of the four exits are to stairwells that lead out of the building in case of emergencies."

"Copy that," Natasha said.

"You know, Steve, I really think that someday, Romanoff and I will…" Sam tried to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Sam, I appreciate what you're doing, but…" Steve said.

"But what?! I'm serious!" Sam smiled.

"Hey Wilson," Nat said over the comm. "You and me equals never."

"She'll come around," Sam grinned.

Steve nodded, but his expression was serious. "Remember, Tony, only get as close as you absolutely must. Don't take any extra risks," Steve said.

"I know," Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

Steve did not want this to play out like this. He should be going in and pulverizing that LMD with his bare hands. Instead, he was sitting on those same hands, just waiting. He trusted that the three of them could and would do what was necessary of the mission, but it felt like he should be there, too.

"Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary," Steve said.

"Define _out of the ordinary_ ," Sam asked. "Because we're going after an assassin-robot holding people hostage," he finished.

"Fair point," Steve replied. "Let's just make sure no one, other than Sharon, Tony, or Natasha, comes close to the quinjet."

Sam nodded and moved back to the controls.

"You think this will work, Lang?" Steve asked.

"Sure," he said around a mouthful of granola bar. "I'll figure the frequency of the LMD when Stark gets close enough and then we can use his repulsors to scramble it. That'll allow Black Widow and Sharon time to let the hostages out and Tony can totally disable the LMD. What could go wrong?" he finished.

Steve exchanged a look with Sam. Something was going to go wrong. Definitely.

…

The bureau building had been evacuated, save for the cafeteria full of the hostages. And once they'd snuck past the guards and everyone outside, it was almost too easy getting inside.

"According to the blueprints, the cafeteria should be down that hall," Tony told both Nat and Sharon.

Sharon nodded. She was running on adrenaline and far too much caffeine. She wanted to badly to find out about the LMD and who it was working for. She then wanted to smash the bastard to pieces.

"Sharon, before we go in there, promise me that you are not going to deviate from the plan," Tony said.

She raised a cocky eyebrow. "Of course I'm going to stick to the plan. I've got both you and Steve to yell at me if I don't," she replied.

He shook his head. He, of course, didn't believe her.

…

The three of them rounded the final corner and found they were not alone. Of course, the entire building had not been evacuated. There were FBI and police outside the cafeteria doors, waiting to help some hostages escape. And they looked incredibly relieved to see Iron Man.

"You all are probably going to want to be out of the way," Tony said. "If you don't mind, we'll take over the situation," he told them all.

No one seemed to argue with him. However, the senior person in charge walked cautiously up to them.

"Do you have a plan in mind that isn't going to get my people killed?" she asked.

"Care to share, Mr. Iron Man?" she asked.

"This," he pointed to Sharon. "This is Sharon Carter. The person your LMD wishes to speak to."

"That's the plan?"

"Just part of the plan," Natasha told them. "Don't worry. We've got this. It'll be…okay," she said in a slightly unsure voice.

The FBI director did not look like she was too impressed.

"Ma'am," Tony said respectfully. "We're going to do all that we can do to ensure the safety of the people in that room," he finished. He then turned to Sharon. "You ready?"

"Let's do this," Sharon replied.

Tony's helmet came down over his face once more and he readied himself. He would open the door and catch the LMD's attention. And then direct it to Sharon.

He stepped to towards the door and opened it.

"I'm kinda hurt, Mr. Samuels. You threw a party and didn't invite me," Tony said as he entered the room. Sharon was right behind him with Natasha.

The LMD of Gary Samuels looked right past the Iron Maan and zeroed in on Sharon.

"Sharon Carter," the LMD said. But it wasn't the voice they expected. A female voice spoke through Gary Samuels.

"Cathy?" Sharon replied, immediately recognizing the voice.

"You've got it, sweetheart."

Sharon's eyes were wide as she slowly made her walk towards the mysterious LMD.

"I don't understand," Sharon said. "What's going on with all this?"

"I'm changing the world. I'm making myself known."

"You killed your own grandson," Sharon said. "You…"

"Your boyfriend killed my other grandson, I believe you know of him…Brock Rumlow," Cathy's voice told them. "But when you cut off a Hydra's head, two more shall grow back. And in this case, it was a lot more than two."

"You're _Hydra_? But what about Gary? Did he know?"

Tony was trying to pick up the frequency but it was damned near impossible. He needed Sharon to keep on talking. He had more work to do."

"That silly bastard – believed that I was a clueless housewife. So wrong!"

"Where is the real Gary?"

"Oh," she said. "He's dead," Cathy said calmly.

"You _killed_ him?" Natasha asked.

"Ah, Agent Romanoff….no, _I_ did not kill him. Well, I guess indirectly. He died of a heart attack," Cathy said. "And Mr. Stark, you should forget trying to find the frequency. You won't."

The LMD started to move towards Sharon and raised its gun at her. She held firm; she didn't move. But Tony did. He raised his right hand and he fired on the LMD. The blast sent it flying across the room. It was fried. He didn't want to make it unusable, but he had no choice. He had to do something.

The immediate threat was gone and the people in the room cheered gratefully. But Sharon, Natasha, and Tony were at a total loss. No information would be able to be gained from the heap of metal on the ground. Ton's repulsor had melted the damn thing's internal wiring.

"Let's get the damn thing out of here, at least," Tony said. "Take it back to the facility and see what we can do."

"It's _useless_ now, Tony."

"Sharon, it was going to _kill_ you. It pulled a gun on you and was going to shoot you."

"We don't know it was going to do. And now we'll never know," Sharon said. "It could have at least had GPS; we could have tracked Cathy's location that way."

The people in the room still were watching their heroes discuss their options.

"I don't really want to continue this talk while we have such a big and attentive audience. I'm going to grab it and take it with us."

He picked it up and carried it out, past the FBI director.

"You don't mind if I borrow this, do you?" Tony asked, but he was gone before the stunned FBI director could do or say anything.

… …

Author's note: thanks for being awesome people. You just keep on being awesome!

Let me know what you think so far!


	19. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Hello all! My biggest apologies! I totally forgot that I hadn't posted this chapter – meaning I had to type it first. Funny story, I didn't realize that I hadn't typed it/posted it until I went to post the next chapter. So…as a reward for being so ridiculously patient with me, I've got a double posting tonight.

So, here it is…

Aftermath

Chapter 18

Sam Wilson had to actually block Steve Rogers' exit from the quinjet when they had heard that Cathy was Hydra. He relaxed slightly but only slightly, when he heard Sharon yelling at Tony for destroying the LMD. He would need to wait, he knew, because the FBI and all the other officials would be out there. And he wasn't sure how they would react to him.

"Its okay – they're all okay," Sam said.

"Why couldn't Hydra just stay down?" Steve said.

They'd heard everything that Cathy Samuels had said. She was Hydra and once more, Hydra was rearing its ugly head.

Steve paced the length of the quinjet as he waited for an update from the others.

Sam was on the comm before he could impatiently shout, though. "Sharon? What do you have for me?"

Nat's voice came through. "We're gonna need another minute or two. We have a slight glitch."

"What kind of glitch?" Steve said. "Talk to me, Natasha."

"Give us two minutes, Steve," Sharon said as calmly as possible. "The FBI isn't too keen on us taking the LMD."

"Sam, you mind gearing up? You might need to do an extraction," Steve said.

"You got it, Cap," Sam replied.

He got up from the controls and Steve took his place.

"How long are we going to wait before we're going in?" the Vision asked.

"They get five more minutes," Steve replied.

"Mr. Stark, hand over the Life Model Decoy," a voice ahead of them said.

Not surprising, it was Secretary Ross. He'd joined the situation. Helicopters still hovered overhead and members of the FBI were surrounding Tony, Sharon and Natasha.

"Listen, we're all on the same side here," Tony said. "Well, not this thing. But _we_ are on your side."

"The LMD is property of the United States Government. You _will_ return the evidence or you _will_ face the consequences," Ross said.

Inside the Iron Man helmet, Tony was rolling his eyes. "I get what you're saying, but…  
Tony said.

"You're going to get us in…" Sharon began.

"I'm going to advise these fine folks to take you all into custody if you don't hand over the LMD, Stark," Ross said in an angry tone.

"Ross, you know as well as I do that we will be able to get any and all information out of this thing and we'll be able to do it much faster than your teams can," Tony said. "No offense."

"That doesn't matter. You are in violation of the Sokovia Accords and are now under arrest."

"No," a voice behind the melee spoke up.

"Iron Man saved our lives. The Avengers came to our rescue," another voice said.

Cheers rose up around them. The folks that they had saved in the cafeteria were starting to move forward to surround them. They were coming forward in their support.

"If you do not step aside, you will all be in violation of the Sokovia Accords as well."

"Accords or not, you know the Avengers should handle this!" a voice shouted.

"You're _all_ criminals if you continue this!" Ross yelled back.

"Secretary Ross," Sharon said softly. "We will keep you in the loop on this. But this is personal for us. It's Hydra and…"

"Ms. Carter, I know you think that…"

"No, we _know_ ," Natasha said. "And we are the best equipped to handle this."

"We did just rescue people from a robot," Tony said. "You did not."

"So, Ross, what's it gonna be?" Nat asked. " _None shall pass?"_ she added.

Secretary Ross was outnumbered. He was blindsided by the amount of people who had come to the support of the Avengers. He'd miscalculated the sheer amount of respect these folks had rallied.

"If I let you go, you _will_ keep me abreast of the findings?" Ross said.

"You have my word," Tony said.

"Your word means nothing," Ross replied.

"You've got my word, too," Steve added.

A roaring cheer sounded around them as everyone saw Steve for the first time. Sharon wondered if the news hadn't been reporting on Steve's status.

"I made sure no one was talking of Steve's health," Tony whispered an answer to her unasked question.

"People probably thought he was dead, then," Sharon replied.

"I just wanted him to keep some privacy."

"Thank you," Sharon replied softly.

"No problem, kiddo," Tony said. "So, Thunderbolt – yay or nay? I'd like to take this back to my lab and get started sooner rather than later," Tony finished.

Secretary Ross looked around. He knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place. The entire FBI team, or at least it seemed that way, was guarding the Avengers.

They saw Ross consider his options and took a tentative step towards Steve Rogers.

"Captain," he said in a low voice. "You will keep me in the loop with all applicable intel."

"Of course," Steve said, nodding. "You have my word. I want to end Hydra, too," he said. His jaw clenched again. He really wanted to move this all along. They'd gathered too much of a crowd and there was too much potential for more problems if they all sat out in the open much longer.

"Secretary, we need to go," Steve said.

Both men stared at one another before Ross gave Steve a barely noticeable nod. He moved aside a moment later. He also directed his people to put their weapons down.

"Thank you," Steve said.

"Secretary Ross, we will be in touch with you as soon as we have information," Sharon said as she followed Tony and Natasha. "And here's the address of where the real Gary Samuels lived with Cathy – who is apparently Hydra. She said he was dead now. I don't know…"

"How do you have this address?" he asked.

"I own the property next door. _I'm_ Sydney Davis," she said.

It was a moment, but recognition of the name flashed across Secretary Ross' face. "They used my alias – well, Cathy did," Sharon said quietly. "Gary Samuels worked for SHIELD. He believed that his wife knew nothing of that portion of his life. Clearly, that was incorrect," Sharon told him. "He was a good man and deserves to be remembered as such."

"I'll send a team out, Ms. Carter," Ross replied.

"Thank you," she replied. "I'll be in touch, sir."

Sharon hurried along after the others and found their way into the awaiting quinjet.

"And you were worried about _us_ not sticking to the plan," Sharon said to Steve as he looked over the almost-incinerated LMD.

"Well, it sounded like Ross wasn't going to let you through without some major diplomacy," Steve said. "I had Sam ready to do an extraction and then…"

"He got to have the talk with Ross," Sam said. "You stole my thunder," Sam laughed as he steered the quinjet up over the buildings. "So – Avengers' facility?"

"Yes," Tony and Steve replied together.

Sharon sat up with Sam as they made their trip to New York. While Tony, Steve, and the others were looking over the LMD and discussing what they had heard from Cathy.

One person was quiet, though. Wanda was still not certain of Sharon. She'd read her mind, though and found nothing that would suggest she knew any of this. But still could not bring herself to totally trust Sharon Carter. It was just a feeling she had that was keeping her on edge around the other woman. And come to find out her neighbor was Hydra? Well, that didn't make Wanda feel any better at all.

"May I ask what has you so quiet?" Vision asked as he sat down next to Wanda.

She waved him off. "It's nothing."

"I doubt that very much," he replied.

"I just – will you promise to keep this to yourself? Because I'm certain it's my own mind playing tricks on me," Wanda began quietly.

"Of course, Wanda. You have my total discretion," he nodded.

"I just – I'm concerned with Sharon," she said. "How so?" he asked.

"I was talking to Natasha last night and I know I've made a fool of myself, but something is different with Sharon. Something I cannot figure out. It's not in her mind," Wanda said. "If that makes any sense."

"What you're saying is that you see something concerning Sharon but you do not know what it is? You can't tell specifically because Sharon does not know either," Vision said out loud.

"It sounds so much worse when you say it aloud," Wanda said. "It's just a nagging feeling. I know everyone else trusts her; I _want_ to trust her, too. But with everything…"

"You are very much entitled to your own feelings and opinions, Wanda," Vision said softly. "I do not wish to sway you, at all. However, I can assure you that if anything were seriously out of the ordinary with Sharon Carter, both Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers would figure it out. Both are well-acquainted with her and what of JARVIS that remains within me knows her as well."

"That's all well and good, but what if she's actually part of Hydra?" Wanda said in a whisper that was far too loud. She was so loud that it stopped the discussion between Tony, Scott, Steve and Natasha.

Steve turned towards Wanda and she braced herself for how upset he would be with her. But his face was soft. "We're all on a learning curve, I know. And you've only just met Sharon and the circumstances are less than ideal."

"That's an understatement," Nat replied.

Ignoring the redhead, he continued, "I hope for the time being, you and Sharon can at least respect one another. I'm sure you'll come to trust her like the rest of us do," Steve told her. "I know if the time came she'd be there for you like I would be." He gave Wanda a quick smile and an authoritative nod and returned to the observation of the LMD.

"Wow," was all Wanda uttered before going silent again, still sitting next to Vision.

Tony, still in his Iron Man suit, hauled the remains of the LMD off of the quinjet and he was discussing some options with Vision and Scott.

Wanda, Nat and Sam were next, following behind them. And bringing up the rear were Steve and Sharon.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"You've got to quit asking me that," she snapped.

Steve said nothing.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I'm just not this delicate flower that everyone is seeing me as," Sharon said.

"I was glad when you three were standing there," Steve said. "I know it's nearly impossible to salvage the LMD, but I'm glad Tony fried it."

"And thank you for coming to our rescue yet again," she finally smiled. "You should get going down to the lab. I really am fine," she said. "I'm going to see if I can dig up some family records for Cathy Samuels – a family tree or something."

"What a tree that is," Steve said.

"It's definitely more of a tangle web, in this case," Sharon replied and Steve nodded in agreement.

"I really thought with Mallick gone, we stood a chance of actually ending Hydra," Steve said.

"Me, too. I guess they still had a few loose ends out there."

"I'm going to do everything I can to save the world from Hydra," Steve said assertively.

"Did you know that when you get passionate about something, a vein starts to bulge in your forehead?" Sharon teased him.

"Maybe I've got some Hulk in me somewhere."

"Maybe Banner's serum wasn't as off the mark as he thought," Sharon smiled.

"Sharon, will you do me a favor?"

She knew the tone. "Please don't ask me to braid Wanda's hair or anything. I won't do it."

"She's had one hell of a time since Pietro died; he was all she had. And now, we're at it. She's having a hard time really connecting."

"Because she accuses people of being traitors to their face?" Sharon asked.

"Please, Sharon?" he asked. "You don't need to be best friends with her; I just was hoping you'd be the person she connected to. You have sisters, right?"

"Yes, but I think she's more interested in a connection with Vision," Sharon said.

Steve looked confused.

"Please tell me you've noticed their flirtation."

Steve shook his head, mystified.

"In the grand scheme of things, it's very unimportant. But I'm telling you, there's something there."

"Well, I will defer to you on this situation. But I won't let you change the subject."

"I have no problem with her, Steve. She's the one who has the issue. So to answer you, yes, I will try. I'm making no guarantees as I am no miracle worker, but I will try," Sharon said.

"Thank you."

"I'm going to grab Wanda and go with Maria. I want to see if some of my connections can get me somewhere. You should go make sure you don't miss out on all the fun with the LMD."

He kissed her on the cheek again. "I'll come find you when we get some information from the LMD," Steve said.

"Sounds good."

Steve smiled at Sharon, nodded to Wanda and was gone in a flash.

"So, Wanda, you're with me," Sharon said.

The younger woman was wide-eyed.

"C'mon, I'll teach you how to do some real espionage," Sharon said.

…

A/N: on to the next one… :)


	20. Chapter 19

Author's Note: Hello there! Thanks for bearing with me as I've had real life come at me at full force and frankly, adulting isn't that much fun. Anyway, so here is the next chapter. Read on and let me know what you think!

Aftermath

Chapter 19

"Welcome to the nerve center," Maria said as she allowed Sharon and Wanda into her office area.

Wanda had seen it before, but rarely joined Maria; she felt like she was intruding on her space.

"Is this the first you're seeing the facility?" Maria asked.

"The first since the extensive remodel that Tony did, yes," Sharon said.

Maria extended a piece of paper to Sharon. "Shortly before you arrived, a message came for you. It came in Morse code."

"A message for me in Morse?" Sharon asked.

"From Thunderbolt Ross," Maria replied.

"I should have known," Sharon said. "They found him, right?" Sharon asked, referring to Gary Samuels.

"Yes," Maria replied solemnly.

Sharon took a moment to read the message that Maria handed to her. They had found the real Gary Samuels and he'd been dead on their arrival to the house and coroner pronounced him on the scene. They were taking him in for an autopsy – a cause of death was not immediately known at the scene. They would get a hold of Sharon as soon as they knew anything.

"I wonder how many families are affected by this – how many spouses were Hydra – just waiting for their moment?" Sharon asked.

Quietly, Wanda spoke up. "I'm sure this was not a one-time thing, unfortunately."

"Aunt Peggy considered Gary as family," Sharon told them. "He did so many great things for SHIELD. And now his legacy is reduced to what? A Hydra pawn? A-another cog in the machine? And he was taken down in his retirement by his wife? How could he not have not known?" Sharon asked.

"Would any of us know? We worked with a lot of sleeper agents and we had no idea," Maria said, slightly angrily. "He was a good man, though. I worked with him in the field a couple of times," Maria said.

"Tony and the rest went to the lab to take the LMD apart," Sharon said, changing the subject quickly. She was beginning to get teary-eyed and she had no desire to cry in front of Maria Hill.

"I have a few things to take care of. Feel free to use whatever you need in here," Maria told them.

"Thank you. I'm going to show Wanda a few things about hacking," she said.

Maria nodded and left the room leaving the two other women alone.

"I can just go – if you'd prefer to work alone," Wanda began.

"If that's what you want. But I don't mind the company," Sharon told her. "I know this is going to sound weird, but we really ought to try to be friends. We are on the same team and despite a bit of an iffy start, you and I really could be friends."

Wanda nodded tentatively.

"I'm not saying we'll be wearing matching necklaces and getting our nails done, but we could start tolerating one another" she smiled and finally got a smile from Wanda.

"All right, so let me show you what we are going to do here," Sharon said.

…

It had been hours. They'd all stopped for a short while for a meal and gone straight back to work again. It was now the middle of the night. Nat had come back from the lab when she was thoroughly exhausted and left everyone else continuing to tinker. Wanda and Sharon had fallen asleep watching something random on TV in the lounge area.

Opening her eyes, Sharon realized she was in a different location and she wasn't alone. Looking around in the semi-darkness of the room, she could identify Steve's minimalist décor choices. And she recognized the arm around her waist as Steve's. According to the clock on the bedside table, it was 3:48 AM.

"Hey," Steve mumbled sleepily.

"Hey yourself," she replied. "When did you call it a night?"

"Some time after you and Wanda did," he said, smiling into her shoulder.

"We got tired, I guess," Sharon said. "And the movie was boring."

"I'm glad you both were able to work through your differences."

"We're both adults. We just needed to give one another a chance," Sharon said. "How did things go with the LMD?" she asked, turning to face him.

"Tony left FRIDAY scanning. At this point, we've got nothing," Steve told her. "Did you find any trace of Cathy?"

"I started running through Brock Rumlow's family tree, but came up with a lot of redacted dead-ends. I still am having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole thing."

"Same here. I don't know why I thought Hydra would ever be done for good, though. They always have had their motto and it's been true so far," Steve replied. "I'm just really tired of them."

"After this many years, I can't say that I blame you," Sharon said.

"The thing is, Sharon, I'm hoping we could really end Hydra once and for all but what if that's not possible?" Steve said. "What if we don't stand a chance?"

"Hydra needs a leader. People followed Schmidt because he was charismatic. Same with Pierce – I know. Mallick, well, he had a lot of money and power and his family was Hydra for generations," Sharon said. "Without Rumlow and Trevor to do her bidding, does Cathy have what it takes to bring Hydra back to its origins? I don't think so. I think we can exploit the fact that Hydra, as an organization, is disorganized. And I don't think that Cathy will be able to rally. If everything we know about Hydra still stands, then we can end this once and for all. Cathy is using scare tactics and without Rumlow as her muscle, I think she's got nothing."

"Have I mentioned how much I love you?" Steve said in the darkness of the room.

"Not in the last ten minutes," Sharon replied with a smile.

He kissed her and she reciprocated with vigor. They were still kissing when Tony burst in the room a moment later.

"Whoa!" Tony said, turning away. "I…"

"What is it, Tony?" Sharon asked quickly.

"I, uh, are you guys…because, uh…" Tony stuttered.

"No, we're not," Steve replied.

"Oh, thank God," Tony said turning back toward them.

"You must need something…?" Sharon asked.

"Oh…yes. I think I've had a breakthrough with…"

"With…?"

"With the LMD," he said, holding up something small.

"Have you been up all night?" Sharon said, watching her godfather grinning like a maniac.

"No – I went to bed when everyone else did. But I couldn't sleep," Tony said.

Sharon climbed out of the bed and pulled the first shirt she found, one of Steve's discarded t-shirts. She pulled it on over her tank top and Steve found another shirt for himself along with a pair of sweats and he pulled them on.

"Let's go keep working," Tony said to Steve. "You think Lang…"

"No," Sharon and Steve said together. Lang was barely a 10 AM person – he definitely wasn't a 4 AM person.

"Nat, though," Sharon said. "I'll go see if I can wake her gently. I won't go barging into rooms…" Sharon said with a quick smirk to Tony. "You might not be so lucky next time, Mr. Stark," she said as she poked him in the chest.

Sharon moved down the hallway, barefoot, and Tony stayed with Steve.

"I, uh…I'm sorry?" Tony said. But it was much more of a question than an apology.

"Can we just forget it? I don't really want to talk about…" Steve said uncomfortably.

"Yup. All forgotten," Tony replied quickly. "So…down to the lab again."

Down in the lab, only a few minutes later, Sam, Natasha, Steve and Sharon waited while Tony prepared to explain the process.

"Anyone put some coffee on?" Sam yawned. "A pot dumped on my head would really wake me up right now."

"You all lost the coffee privileges when someone kept putting the grounds down the disposal," Tony replied.

Sam rolled his eyes at Stark, but remained silent until he yawned noisily.

"Okay, so FRIDAY found this memory storage unit in the LMD," Tony held up a microchip. "It's like a plane's black box – it stores the really important stuff – for lack of a better description," he explained.

"This _stuff_ – can you access it?" Steve asked.

"It's…encrypted," Tony said. "FRIDAY is trying – running algorithms, but this Hydra tech is the real deal," he finished.

"They're stepping up their game," Sam said. "Good for them," he laughed.

"And bad for us," Nat said icily. "You've still got it set for her to continue to try to break the encryption code, yes?"

"Of course."

"This must be something Strucker was working on – why he had that whole room…"

Tony's mind flashed back to when he thought the Chitauri vessel had come back alive in the room full of experiments. He shook his head to clear his mind once more.

"You all right?" Sharon leaned on his arm. "You got really quiet – that's unusual," she smiled.

"I'm fine," he replied quickly. "Fine, fine. Did you have any luck with finding Mrs. Samuels?" he asked Sharon in turn.

Sharon shrugged. "I broke a few laws getting into some databases, but I only found redacted information. She was covering her ass from day one," Sharon explained.

"So…what about her children? Would they know where to find their mom? Especially since their dad passed away…"

"Both children passed away, too. Both the son and daughter had a genetic condition that caused them to pass away prematurely. I remember Gary talking about that."

"How did Gary not know that Rumlow was Hydra?" Sam asked. "I mean – it was pretty damn obvious if you ask me…"

"I have a sinking feeling that along with all her secrets, Cathy was using something to control Gary. Especially after SHIELD fell," Sharon said. "He might have been ingesting it or…" Sharon trailed off as she thought of all the meals that she'd eaten at the Samuels' home and she cringed. Steve saw and understood. It was lucky they were both still alive.

"SO, what's the ETA on info?" Natasha asked.

"That – is a bit up in the air, Ms. Romanoff," Tony replied. "With the strength of the encryption and the unknown data on this precious gem – it could be minutes…"

"Well, it _hasn't_ been minutes," Sam said.

"I _never_ said how many minutes," Tony replied. "I believe FRIDAY will be able to have it by lunchtime, at latest. Right, FRIDAY?"

"Sir, I'm using all the resources I have but, I am unable to determine a timetable for you. I apologize, sir."

"Sounds like we're going to do this the old fashioned way," Natasha said. "We need to start back at the house she lived in with Gary. 'Course that means your secret place won't be so secret anymore, Sharon."

Sharon shrugged. There wasn't much that could be done about it. She was just going to have to deal.

An hour later, a crew consisting of Sam, Nat, Steve, Tony and Sharon were on their way to Michigan. The Vision, Wanda and Scott were staying back with Maria. They would keep an eye on FRIDAY's findings.

As Sam landed the Quinjet expertly in the field next to Sharon's cottage, everyone (meaning Sam, Tony, and Natasha) were looking out to see what the small place looked like and why Sharon had kept it so secret from them all.

"Where's the rest of it?" Tony asked as they climbed out of the jet.

"That's all," Sharon smiled up at Steve.

"I don't like that smirk," Tony said.

"It's perfect for two," Steve replied.

Tony shook his head. "I don't like the mental images I'm getting from this. What tech is here?" he asked as she let him into the building.

"Nice change of subject there," Sharon replied.

"Do you have any tech here, little girl? What am I working with?" Tony asked.

Sharon showed Tony into the very small living room and entered a code on a hidden panel. Steve knew what was coming, but Tony seemed very surprised when a state-of-the-art computer appeared.

"Will that be to your liking, your excellency?" Sharon asked in a sarcastic voice.

"You want to log in so I can use it?" Tony said, indicating it had a retinal scan as log in method.

"Bathroom is upstairs to the right," Sharon said as she stood to let the scanner do its work. A moment later, the computer that was outfitting with SHIELD intel as well as CIA info that Sharon had, was booting up.

"You've got some kind of electronic fencing, right?" Sam asked. "How else would you keep people out of here?"

"Well, until the Cathy-Hydra thing, it really hasn't been an issue. But yes, I've got all kinds of security on this place," Sharon explained. "What concerns me is that none of it ever picked up Cathy. She's been here, in this house. And clearly, the LMD was here," Sharon said to Steve.

"We need to go take a look over at that house," Steve said.

"I'll go with you," Sharon said.

"You should stay here with Tony. Sam, Nat and I will go," Steve told her.

"And why is that?" Sharon asked. "I should go. I know that house."

"I'll stay back with Stark," Sam said.

"Stark isn't staying here, either," Tony said in third-person. "Stark is going over to that house."

The house was covered in police tape – an attempt to keep people out. A lone guard was stationed out at the road, to keep gawkers at bay, but no one expected that people to be traipsing through the woods on the side of the property and that is what the group did.

Inside the Samuels' home, everything had been sorted through. Fingerprint dust covered all the knick-knacks and tables. All the cupboard doors stood open, pots and pans were all over the floor.

"This floral fabric is awful," Tony said as he looked the living room furniture.

"Not important, Tony," Sharon replied.

"I know, but c'mon, it's hideous," Tony said. "Clearly she was not a home designer."

"She was too busy plotting to take over the world," said Natasha.

Tony nodded.

"What are we looking for that the FBI and CIA haven't already taken?" Sam asked.

"Anything that could be a clue," Steve said. "I know that isn't much help – but we're looking for anything that could lead us to _her_ Hydra base."

Sharon wandered into the back bedroom and found what she'd been afraid of. There was clear evidence that this was where Cathy had been keeping Gary. Who knows how long he'd been like here.

Sharon cautiously stepped around the contents of the drawers that had been tipped onto the ground and moved around to the closet. Sharon opened the door and her suspicions came true – the crime scene individuals had missed the very small attic in the ceiling.

"Steve, can you come in here?" Sharon called.

He joined her in the bedroom and looked at her expectantly.

"I need a boost," Sharon said, pointing up.

He ducked into the closet and saw the small access hole in the ceiling.

"I really don't think that's a good idea, Sharon."

"I think we'll find something up there," Sharon said. "I just need to be able to see what's up there. Cathy mentioned it one day when she was complaining about lack of storage. She told me that Gary had added a very small space for her so she could store her old mementos and they'd be out of the way."

"She would have taken then with her," Steve said.

"I'll bet she didn't have time," Sharon said. "C'mon, we have to check. We might as well since we're here. I have a hunch," she smiled. "And, no offense, but you can't go up there – your shoulders won't fit through the opening."

Steve weighed his options. It was unlikely that she was going to let this go. He was going to have to help her.

"All right," Steve said.

He effortlessly hoisted her up and she stood on his shoulders so she could fit up through the opening. Sure enough, when she clicked her flashlight on, there were two boxes totally covered in dust. They were untouched as far as she could tell and if she stretched a little further, she could reach them.

"I've got something!" Sharon shouted down to Steve.

…

Author's note: let me know what you think!


	21. Chapter 20

Author's Note: Hullo there! I'm so sorry that I'm just updating now. However, real life has gotten in the way…and my boss seems to frown on me writing instead of doing my actual job.

So, anyway, here is the next chapter.

Aftermath

Chapter 20

The boxes contained all of the things Sharon had been hoping for. Cathy had ben socking away all kinds of information and must have thought no one would look up there.

They'd taken the boxes and hurried away, hoping no one had heard them. Sharon knew that Ross was now more or less on their side and he'd cover for them, but she didn't want to resort to that if she could help it.

They emptied the boxes carefully on the table at Sharon's cottage.

In one box, Steve pulled out a photo album filled front to back with newspaper articles from the 40s about Captain America going head to head with Hydra. He was slightly surprised to see it, but the album must have been some kind of Hydra family heirloom.

"You should be glad you got rid of that haircut," Tony said and Sam chuckled for a brief moment.

"Now isn't the time, fellas," Sharon said.

Natasha had a second scrapbook in her hands. "It's all handwritten notes on SHIELD – it starts at the SSR to the SHIELD of the 80s," Natasha said after a quick flip through the book.

Both Steve and Sharon froze at the smiling picture of Peggy with her team that included Gary Samuels.

"This goes until Gary's retirement," Sharon pointed out.

"This album is all family photos," Sam said.

"She really _did_ love him," Sharon said, looking at one of the photos. "Even if she _was_ Hydra the whole time."

" _Is – is_ Hydra _._ "

Sharon grabbed the last album and opened it. A loose leaf piece of paper that was yellowed and crumpled with age fell out and Sharon reached down to pick it up from the floor.

"It's just a recipe for lemonade," Sharon said in a confused voice.

"Who needs a recipe for lemonade?" Sam asked. "Lemons, water, sugar – what is _oblitus_?" Sam asked. "It's got something called _oblitus_."

"It's Latin for _forget_ ," Sharon and Natasha said together.

Steve nodded. "What does that mean for us, though?" he asked.

"Cathy was always having Trevor and Gary drink lemonade. It seemed like that was all they ever had, really. Cathy always smiled and whispered that it was a secret family recipe. She always kept it in the same jug in the fridge, too," Sharon said.

"Did you ever drink any?" Natasha asked.

Sharon shrugged. "No, I mean, I don't know. Not recently, if I ever did. This last time, she never offered it to me. Steve and I brought wine the last time we ate together."

Steve nodded. "I guess it could have been in the food, though," Steve said.

Sharon shrugged again. "I have no idea. I've never heard of this stuff before."

"Well, it's a colorless and odorless, sweet-tasting extract from a rare type of flower grown in Germany. When the plant is consumed, those eating it show signs of extreme pliability _and_ forgetfulness. When consumed regularly, animals were shown to be easier to lead and take commands," Tony read from his phone.

"Only grown in Germany?"

"Hydraoblitus," Tony read back. "Hydra created it. Started out testing it out on the animals and then on their soldiers."

"Does the study have any information about the animals or soldiers if they quit it?" Sharon asked.

"General malaise and irritability," Tony read.

"All that time I thought Trevor was annoying – he was withdrawing from the drug Hydra created. We need to make sure the autopsy done is looking for this," Sharon said.

"On it," Natasha said, pulling out her phone. "I'll get Ross on the line."

"This photo – a young Cathy?" Steve asked, holding open the last album. Sure enough, a girl, around ten years old stood with her family in front of a big boat.

"Is that the _Titanic?_ " Sam asked, smirking.

"The _Titanic_ sank before even _I_ was born," Steve muttered. Everyone wisely didn't add to the teasing.

Sharon shook her head. "I think it's a yacht, not a steam ship, Sam" she said.

"So, what do we think the chances are that this boat still exists?" Tony asked. "A floating base could be an ideal way to try to stay off our radar…"

"A boat might be a good way to try and break someone out of the Raft. Sin is still there, right?" Sharon said.

Natasha, just off her call with Ross, nodded her confirmation. "Rumlow broke out and left Sin behind. Didn't have the chance to go back for her."

"What a sweet boyfriend," Sam deadpanned.

"She's going to go after Sin. She won't have enough fire power on her own, but with Sin on her side, well…"

"Looks like I'm going back to the Raft," Sam said. "Let's do this!"

Back at Avengers HQ, they were all regrouping and getting outfitted.

"I don't particularly want to back there," Scott said. "I mean, I sure do like hanging out with all you super guys and gals, but jail – especially that one – not really for me."

Steve held up his hand to silence him.

"Mr. Lang, we were hoping you would remain on dry land as part of the home team. Sharon, Sam, Nat, and I would go and Vision, Stark, Wanda, and you will stay behind to step in for back up." 

Tony had agreed to be B-team because he wanted to be able to manage the situation and step in when he was needed. If all of the away team was somehow captured, then no one would be left to keep Sin locked up in maximum security.

"Maria, we need to make sure nothing about the Raft, any news at all goes out on the news," Tony said.

Maria nodded. "You got it."

"You don't want me to go?" Wanda asked Steve. "Did I…?"

"I thought you just might not want to go back to a place you were held prisoner," Steve said. It was the truth. He was trying to help her avoid any of the memories of the place.

"I know where Sin is kept," Wanda said. "I can help."

"If you really want to go, we could use the help," Sharon said encouragingly with a small smile and nod.

"I will go," Wanda nodded.

"Okay, suit up," Steve said.

They were walking out the door to get on the quinjet when Tony stopped them. 

"Hold on," he said, holding his hand up to stop Steve.

"Tony…"

Tony left the room they were in and returned with Steve's shield. "You need this. It's yours."

Steve accepted it silently with a grateful nod. He and Tony shared a meaningful look before Steve put it on his back, in its familiar place.

"Thank you," Steve said.

…

Silence filled the cabin of the quinjet as they waited for their drop destination. They would be parachuting out of the jet, to arrive as quietly as possible.

"The _Titanic_ is actually _older_ than you?" Sam finally asked Steve.

"It sank in 1912, Sam. I was born in 1918," Steve replied without looking at his friend.

Sharon was trying to stifle a giggle, unsuccessfully, and Steve's frown turn into a quick smirk.

"Drop zone," Natasha replied. "Remember, don't shoot Sin unless you have to. She _is_ my sister."

Wanda's eyebrow shot up, but she said nothing.

"Half-sister."

Sam had his falcon wings ready to go and Wanda would fly herself down. Sharon was going to jump on her own, with a parachute, despite Steve's reservations.

"We should go together," Steve told her. "Please."

"If I screw up, I don't want to kill us both. I will jump myself. I've done it before. Right, Nat?"

"To celebrate Bobbi's birthday!" she replied without taking her eyes from the controls. "If you are gonna jump, you gotta go now, folks."

"You all know the plan," Steve said. "Let's go."

Sam was out the door first. He'd tried to talk Sharon into letting him carry her, but she'd refused. Wanda levitated herself out of the quinjet and expertly followed Sam down towards the Raft.

"See you down there," Sharon smiled before Steve could stop her. She jumped and Steve watched for a few seconds before turning to Nat.

"We'll let you know what we find as soon as possible."

"I'm going to circle around and wait for a place that I can pick you all up," Nat replied. "Now go."

Steve didn't wait to be told a third time. He jumped, still not wearing a parachute, and angled his body towards the raft in the middle of the open water.

Steve was surprised, and he wasn't sure why, when Sharon landed expertly on target on the very small ledge of the Raft. He'd landed a few feet shy, as he'd planned, and climbed up to her. From the ledge they were on, Steve jumped up and pulled Sharon up and they met Wanda and Sam.

"This is the ventilation shaft," Steve said, pointing down. "This is how we're going to get in."

He pulled off the grate and tossed it aside. Sam shined a flashlight down the dark tube. "Straight down?"

"Around a sixty foot drop," Steve said. "Almost straight down." 

"The laundry room isn't at the bottom of this, is it?" Sam asked.

"You tell me," Steve shrugged.

Sam thought for a moment. "Nope," he said in a slightly disappointed tone.

Steve tied a rope at the top. "Hang onto this as you go down. Should save us all from the painful, but inevitable, drop at the end."

" _Should_ being the key word there," Sharon said.

"Sam, I'll go first and then Sharon and Wanda, then you. All right?"

"You got it, Cap," Sam said.

Steve hooked his arm around the rope and inched down.

"How long do you want me to wait to follow you?" Sharon asked.

"What until I tell you" Steve said.

"I'm not going to let you get ambushed," Sharon said, climbing down on the rope.

He wouldn't be able to stop her, and she started down the airshaft after him.

"Should be a supply closet," Tony said into their ears through the comms.

"Good. Hopefully it's the towels," Sam said. "After you," he told Wanda.

Back at HQ, Tony was geared up and so was Scott Lang, in case they'd be heading out, too.

"Mr. Stark, we should talk. Can I call you Tony, Tony?"

Tony, face mask back in his helmet, looked up at him silently.

"Okay, Mr. Stark it is. Anyway, I feel like we got off to a bad start."

"Ya think?" Tony replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry for…you know…shrinking and getting in your suit and ripping out the wires…"

Tony held up one of his gauntlet-covered hands. "Yeah, how about we never talk about this ever again."

Scot nodded. "You betcha!" he said, using finger guns to point at Tony.

"And don't you ever say shit like that," Tony said.

"I was just trying to keep it PG for Cap and all…"

"He'll just have to get over it," Tony replied. "You worked for Hank Pym, right? It's his Pym Particles that make you shrink?"

"Yes, yes, but he swore me to secrecy…" 

Tony nodded. "Of course he did."

"He also told me to never trust a Stark."

"I remember," Tony said. "But you've got limited options now, don't you?"

"I s'pose so."

"If you promise to never, ever destroy one of my suits again, I will promise to not squish you with my boot the next time I get the chance," he held out his hand. "Deal?"

"Deal."

The two men shook on their deal.

"All right, now we wait to see if Cap and the others need us," Scott said.

"Oh, no, no," Tony shook his head. "We're leaving, Vision! Keep an eye on the place for us!" Tony called out. "I've added some boosters to your suit. Let's go. You don't get airsick do you?"

"I guess we're going to find out."

A/N: let me know what you thought!


	22. Chapter 21

Aftermath

Chapter 21

"You guys – you got incoming!" Natasha shouted into their ears. Immediately, her warning was followed by an explosion that knocked all of them sideways inside the Raft.

Sam helped Wanda up and Steve helped Sharon.

"What is it?" Steve shouted back.

They were rocked again and they all tried to brace themselves as best as possible.

"Natasha?!" Steve called again.

"I'm trying to get a good look!" Natasha replied. "Oh, shit!"

"What?" Sam called.

"There's some kind of submarine on the starboard side and there is a jet coming at me," Natasha called.

"We need to move," Steve told his group. "We need to…"

"Steve, they've almost breached a wall on the starboard," Natasha said. "I gotta lose this guy," she added.

"Do you think you can help her?" Steve asked.

"I can try," Sam replied.

"We can help," Tony said in their ears.

"No, Tony. Stay back," Steve called as they began to run through the hallways.

"We're already here," Scott added.

"Shit," Sharon hissed. "Tony, you were supposed…"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't follow rules that well," Tony laughed.

"Smart ass," Sharon said under her breath.

"You guys find Sin yet?" Tony asked. "Clever name, by the way."

"What do you expect for the Red Skull's daughter?"

"I would have thought there would be some more thought on it, but hey, whatever."

"O-kay, Iron Man," Sharon said.

Another blast rocked the Raft and sent them moving violently in the water. They all fought to stay upright.

"You all can argue later?" Steve called.

"Someone is wearing their sassy pants today," Tony replied.

"Now is not the time, Stark," Natasha warned.

"I'm coming in on your left," Tony said before blasting with his phaser.

"Thanks," Natasha called. "Can you tell who is flying that thing?"

"Looks Hydra to me," Tony said.

"How can you tell?" Scott asked as he did a barrel roll in the air.

"You all right there, pal?" Tony called.

"Still just trying to get used to these," Scott said. "I think I'm better on land," he replied.

"You get used to it," Sam and Tony said together.

"Jinx! You owe me a Coke," Tony said as he shot at the offending jet once more.

"Wanda, where now?" Steve called.

"You guys…" Natasha trailed off. "Whatever this submarine actually is – it's got tentacles coming out of the water and up into the Raft."

"Tentacles?" Sam said.

"Like an octopus?" Steve asked.

"They've released the Kraken apparently," Tony deadpanned.

"They're pulling things out of the prison."

A huge hole was ripped in the wall in front of the group inside the Raft a moment later. A giant mechanical tentacle was creating the destruction.

The tentacle started to move back out of the hole it created and it caused a strong suction as it reversed. Sharon felt herself moving and grabbed onto a railing but it wasn't going to hold her. Steve grabbed for her as she shouted with surprise, but she was pulled out behind the tentacle because of the sheer force.

"Sharon!" Steve called. "Anyone got eyes on Sharon? She just was pulled out!" he yelled.

He peered into the darkness, but could not see Sharon's white suit. "Damn it!"

Sharon was preparing for the inevitable smack that would be her body hitting the cold ocean water. She twisted to try and take the brunt with her booted feet, but the wind worked against her.

Just as she was about to hit the icy waters, she was grabbed around the middle. She expected everyone but who she turned and saw.

"Hiya sweetheart," the voice grumbled.

"Rumlow?" she choked.

"It's Crossbones, kiddo," he said. He pulled her underwater with him and she thought they were going to drown. But Rumlow was pulled inside the offending submarine and she coughed and sputtered as her lungs gave up the ocean water.

"You – you died," Sharon said. "You…"

"He's an LMD, darling," a familiar voice said over the loudspeaker in the room.

"And a damn fine LMD if I do say so myself," Rumlow said.

"My dear Brocky," Cathy's voice said. "Make sure she is divested of her weapons and she is tied up. We wouldn't want her to get away. Not that she could this deep in the ocean, though!" she laughed.

Rumlow's smile was wide and very evil. "Yes, ma'am."

…

"Has anyone been able to get a read on Sharon?" Steve asked again. He was hoping for a miracle for sure.

"No," Tony replied gruffly.

Steve knew he'd be just as upset by this as he was and Tony did not disappoint.

"No readings on her tracker," Natasha said. "But that doesn't mean…"

"Just keep looking."

"I'll keep on watch," Tony said. "You get to Sin and keep her from getting out."

Steve nodded to the remaining group. He, Sam, and Wanda would continue in hopes that Sin hadn't already been plucked from the Raft like Sharon had.

They continued through the maze of hallways and guards that ran to batten down the hatches didn't seem to mind that they were there. In fact, most didn't even react to their presence.

But when the three of them had finally made their way to the isolation cell in which Sin had been kept, they found only an empty holding chamber where the iso-tank used to be.

"One of the cells that Stark had built for Banner was used to house Sin," Steve said. "And someone released it into the water," he finished before punching the wall next to him in a fit of anger. The metal sound reverberated around them.

"Did that make you feel better?" Wanda asked.

"No," he said as he shook out his fist before putting his hand back to his ear. "Tony, the isolation cell Sin was in was released into the water. Can any of you see _anything_ from your positions?"

"I just saw their big scary submarine monster go back down underwater," Scott said.

Steve was still hoping Sharon's voice was going to come through, but every second that passed made him more nauseous.

"Steve, we need to move."

"I'm going after it," he said as guards rushed into the room.

"Hands up! Hands up!" the half-dozen or so guards shouted at them.

"Listen," Steve began. "None of us have time for this," he said.

"We have unauthorized criminals…"

"Watch it," Sam said. "We were pardoned. Because of that man right there," Sam pointed to Steve. "We aren't the criminals here."

"Captain Rogers!" one guard said. "I'm just trying to do my job."

"And so are we," Steve said. "And we can either work with or against each other and I do think it would be an easier road to work together."

The guards looked to one another and slowly lowered their weapons.

"Tony, how does the iso-tank work?" Steve called as he moved to the control panel.

Tony was still trying to take down the Hydra jet that circled the Raft.

"Rogers, I don't really have the time…"

"I just need to know how to open the damn hatch," Steve said through gritted teeth. "How the hell did they get this thing out of here without you all noticing?"

"They were ramming the side of the prison, sir. We were all told to report to the damaged areas to secure…" 

"Well, that didn't work, did it?"

"Steve, I know you're upset about Sharon, but we have to…" Sam began but was cut off.

"Sam, just open the hatch."

"You can't swim after that thing!" Sam shouted.

"Open the damn hatch and watch me," Steve said.

"Rogers, I'm the _only_ one equipped to go underwater. If Wilson can take my place up here, I'll join you."

Steve nodded to Sam and he gave a nod in return. Sam turned to a guard.

"Take me to the closest door to the outside," he said. 'And you – don't do anything stupid," he said to Steve.

"I can't make any promises," Steve shrugged.

Outside, Sam and Tony made eye contact in the air and suddenly the jet that had been relentlessly pursuing the quinjet was retreating.

"Follow them," Tony said. "I'll try to catch up with the thing underwater."

"I'll…"

"Romanoff, you need to stay here to get Rogers and Wanda," Tony said. "Lang and Wilson will go by air for now," Tony said as calmly as possible even though he felt anything but.

Tony joined Steve and Wanda inside the Raft a moment later.

"How long can someone live inside the iso-tank?" Steve asked.

"In here? Indefinitely. Underwater? A couple of hours, maybe. It wasn't built for that. Not that it was created for cruel and unusual purposes, but just as for Banner, it was put on the Raft for dire circumstances."

"Stark, I'm not interested in the inner workings…" Steve began, holding up his hand.

"The short answer is: it's not built to be used underwater. The occupant will run out of oxygen and the glass is built as Hulk-proof."

"Thor got out," Steve said.

"With his hammer. This cell was created on Earth, not on Asgard," Tony replied.

"Folks, the jet is headed north," Sam told them. "We're staying in pursuit."

"Thanks, Sam," Steve said.

"Do you have any idea what happened to Sharon?" Tony asked.

"No," Steve answered quietly. "When the tentacle pulled back from the side of the Raft and the suction dragged her with it."

Tony let out a strangled breath. "Um, okay. I'm going to go underwater and find out what can be seen," he said. "I, uh…"

"She'd want us to keep going," Natasha said into their ears.

… …

Sharon was bound at her ankles, knees and wrists and she was left alone. She felt the vague sensation that the vessel they were in was moving and she knew the Avengers would be hard-pressed to find them since they weren't known for a lot of underwater work. She figured it was safe to assume that was the reason for the nautical theme.

Sharon also thought it would be reasonable to assume that the saltwater, however briefly she'd been exposed to it, had wrecked both the tracking device she'd worn and the communications device in her ear. In fact, she couldn't even feel the earpiece any more.

She tugged at the bindings on her wrists, but they'd been done well. She was going to have to figure something else out. And she knew she was going to have to escape on her own; there was no chance that in normal situations that a fall like that into the ocean wouldn't have killed her. Steve, Tony, and the others would very likely believe she was dead. The idea of upsetting them like that had made her sick, but when a visitor joined her in the room, she thought she was truly going to throw up.

"Well, well, well…lookie what we've got here?" the voice said.

Sin.

…

Author's note: let me know what you're thinking!


	23. Chapter 22

Sin paced back and forth in the small room. "I'm surprised you haven't tried one of your witty one-liners on me," Sin said while wearing an evil smile. Sharon said nothing.

"Oh? You're too good to talk to little old me?" she spat before slapping Sharon across the face. "So – how about now? You got something to say now?"

Her cheek stung, but Sharon remained silent even as the tell-tale tears welled up in her eyes.

Sin grumbled low in her throat when she still got no response from Sharon. Sin moved lightning fast and put her knee into Sharon's stomach.

Sharon let out a _whoosh_ of air and she coughed a couple of times. The pain was still throbbing through her and she struggled against her bindings to try to double over in pain.

"So – what do you have to say now?" Sin asked.

"Hydra doesn't stand a chance," Sharon said through gritted teeth.

Sin rolled her eyes. "That's all you got?"

"If you think you're leading the Avengers into a trap because of me, you're mistaken," Sharon said. "They probably think I'm dead."

"Don't worry – we'll make sure your patriotic boyfriend knows you're alive…for the time being. I should tell you – my pal Cathy – she ain't so happy with you. But we decided to keep you alive until the time's right."

"Gee, how thoughtful," Sharon replied.

"There's the snark I expected," Sin grinned. "I think you and me are a lot alike, kiddo."

"You and I are _nothing_ alike," Sharon said.

Sin laughed. "You're dismissing the idea because you think I'm right. Everyone thinks I'm just dumb…"

"I don't think that," Sharon replied.

"Bull shit," Sin said. "I'm not stupid. And I'm going to bring Hydra back to what it once was and make it better than ever!" she shouted in Sharon's face.

"A breath mint wouldn't hurt…" Sharon muttered. She received another slap across the face.

"You don't get to make the snappy little side remarks, girly!" Sin said. "You're my prisoner. You're my mark, okay? You're going to sit there and shut up."

"I guess my hands are tied," Sharon said, making another sarcastic joke.

"You've been spending too much time with Stark."

Sharon tried to shrug but her bindings wouldn't allow it.

"Cathy and I are going to make you, your boyfriend, and the whole lot of Avengers pay for what has been done to us. Captain America killed my father and my Brock and left me with that stupid LMD."

"At least you've got…"

"Oh, no, no, no!" She shouted. "None of the _look at the bright side_ bullshit. None!" she spat.

"You could just kill me and I wouldn't have to listen to you anymore. Besides, Steve won't care if I'm dead. He'd rather have my aunt back," Sharon said, trying another route to get to Sin.

"That's sic, ya know that?" Sin said.

"Your dad is the Red Skull and he had your mother killed," Sharon replied.

"And you're dating your aunt's boyfriend. You're the sick one here, honey," Sin wagged a finger at her.

"I think we've gotten off-topic," Sharon said.

"I really don't care," Sin replied.

"Where are you taking me?" Sharon asked.

Sin laughed. And laughed. "Why the eff should I tell you?"

"I'm going to die anyway, aren't I? Does it matter if I know? I've already tried to get out of these ropes and ties and your _boyfriend_ tied them all too tight," Sharon told her.

"Oh, boo-hoo," Sin replied sarcastically. "I'm still not telling you our plans. It's so cliché for the bad guy to divulge all the information and ruins everything somehow in the short and long run. But your pals won't find you, girly. The jet your flying friends are following isn't leading them to _our_ final destination. It could wind up being theirs though," she said evilly. "You won't pull it out in the end. This time your side _can't_ win."

"If you think I'm somehow your key to Hydra's success, I'm afraid you're mistaken, Sin. You know I'm not enhanced. I don't have any money, either. I'm a nobody," Sharon said. "You…"

"You are Captain America's girlfriend, kiddo. And your godfather is Tony Stark. Enhanced or not, you mean a lot to them. And they'll be willing to do everything to get you back safe."

Sin faked a dramatic yawn. "You're boring me. I'm going to go now. Someone'll probably bring you something to eat or whatever later," Sin said.

"How kind of you," Sharon said sarcastically. "Listen, I'm not a very good damsel in distress, so you might want to see about a different plan, Sin. Yes, Tony is my family and Steve…well, I'm not going to help you. You're on your own. I'm not going to comply and I promise to make every single second you have me here a nightmare," Sharon said.

Sin got real close to Sharon's face and put her hand on Sharon's still-stinging cheek. "I don't think you have too many choices here, honey," she said softly.

She turned on her heel and moved to the doorway of the small room. "But I really did like your speech. It was really good."

Sin stepped out of the room and slammed the door behind her so loudly that Sharon flinched. Once more, she was all alone. But she was finding that one of the bindings at her ankle was starting to loosen.

…

"Tony, you got a status report for me?" Steve asked. He was pacing the helicopter pad on the Raft while he was waiting for three things to happen. He wanted a report from Tony, a report from Sam or Scott and someone to come and try to arrest him again. So far, none of those things had happened and both Wanda and Nat were unable to calm him down.

"We need to go, too," Steve said to the ladies with him.

"Rogers," Tony's voice came through their comms. "You need to continue to stay put. I'm still following the submarine. I'm trying to catch up, but it's moving incredibly fast. I'm really trying to close the gap, though."

"Can you get a lock on Stark's coordinates?" Steve asked Natasha. "And Sam or Lang, do you copy?" he asked.

"I've got you, Cap," Sam's voice said. "Lang and I are off the coast of Spain," he told them. "Still in pursuit of the jet."

"Stark is nowhere near there," Natasha reported.

"This is a wild goose chase," Steve groused. "Lang, Sam, turn around. Stand by for coordinates from Romanoff. Stark, we're all coming to you."

"If you haven't grown gills in the last hour, I would advise you to…"

"I can't and won't just sit here twiddling my thumbs," Steve said cutting Tony off.

Tony's suite wasn't designed to take an extensive amount of time in saltwater, and it was going to come to a point where malfunctions were going to happen. But as he sped towards the submarine, he was finally within firing range. He didn't hesitate. He simply held out his palm and fired rapidly at the craft ahead of him.

He didn't care if the damn thing started to take on water. He continued to fire at the submarine as he began to approach it finally.

He touched the sub and grabbed on as it continued to guide through the water. He forced the hole in the water bigger as the sub started to take on the water.

Inside, Tony heard all of the alarms going off and he knew he'd have company soon. Tony didn't care. Tony planned on firing at everything and everyone that came towards him.

"I'm in," Tony said.

"Stark…" Steve said in a warning tone.

"I'm in – you can't stop me," he said like a petulant child.

"Damn it! Let's move!" Steve shouted at Nat and Wanda.

They all moved towards their quinjet and Nat fired it up.

…

The Hydra soldiers moved in towards Tony and were shouting into their own comm devices as he shot them down. Nothing was going to stop him from defeating Sin and Cathy. Nothing would stop him from taking down Hydra.

A lot of things were running through his mind as he moved past the soldiers on the ground. Hydra was responsible for his parents' deaths and now they'd killed Sharon.

"Mr. Stark," A voice said from behind him. He turned quickly with his arm extended and ready to shoot. But he found a crazy redhead and behind her was two someones who he thought were dead: Brock Rumlow holding a gun to Sharon's head.

"Sharon!" Tony shouted "Rogers: she's here. Sharon is…" he began.

"Oh no you don't," Sin said. "You have nothing! I do believe that _we_ have her. And you're willing to do _anything_ to get her back," Sin finished.

"I…"

"Tony, don't," Sharon said. "Shoot them. Kill them. Take your chance."

"You fire at one of us and she's dead, too," Rumlow said.

"He's an LMD," Sharon said. "He…"

Rumlow interrupted her by cracking her on the back of the head with the butt of the gun. She was stunned into silence as her eyes tried to focus once more.

Tony didn't move but his helmet slid back to reveal his face. "What are your terms?"

"Tony, it isn't worth it," Sharon said.

Sin turned and delivered a swift kick to Sharon's gut.

"You wanna make a deal, Mr. Stark?"

"You took the rest of my family from me," Tony said through gritted teeth. "I'm not going to let you take Sharon away, too," he finished.

"How admirable," Sin said. "Kinda touching. I guess I woulda thought the boyfriend woulda been here first, though."

"Trust me, if you think I'm angry, wait til _he_ gets here. He's got a beef with Hydra and you, too," Tony said.

Sin laughed and rolled her eyes. "You don't get it. We've won this time. Sure, that Zemo guy was able to break down the Avengers, I _do_ love him for that. But Hydra – Hydra is back. And we're better than ever. So you can tell your star-spangled…"

"Hold on, no one makes fun of the spangle suits except me," Tony said. "And Red, you're doing far too much talking. You can't bring Hydra back so just let go of Sharon and I'll build a bigger cell to put you in and maybe I'll talk them in to letting you get HBO or something."

"You have to admire that courage, but I don't actually care," Sin said. "Brock, you take her back to her room and Mr. Stark and I will have a little chat."

"Sin," Brock began, but Sin held up a hand to stop him.

"You don't have to worry about Tony Stark trying to kill me. I'll give you the orders if he even fires up one of his repulsors," Sin said. "Iron Man doesn't scare me," Sin finished.

Brock nodded and dragged a fighting Sharon away down the hall. Tony could do nothing.

Tony had kept his comm device sending and Steve clearly heard Sharon's voice. A very temporary wave of relief washed over him before another angry wave came.

He, Natasha, and Wanda were nearing the location in the quinjet but he had no plan once they actually got there.

Natasha could sense his apprehension.

"You got any ideas for this, Steve?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I wish I did. I never expected to need to fight underwater and I'm angry that I never considered that."

"This isn't all your fault, Steve," Natasha said. "We're all players in this game."

"Tony's right, though. How do we do this?"

"Tony's got to bring the thing to the surface."

"They'll kill Sharon."

"At this point, it's our only option," Natasha said. "I'm sure he's already created some pressurization issues by shooting his way in," Nat finished.

Steve knew she was right, but he didn't like playing with people's lives like that. And he had no idea what Tony could do or where he had access to inside the vessel.

"Stark," Steve said.

"Busy," Tony mumbled back quietly.

"I just need you to listen, Tony. We need you to do whatever you can to depressurize the sub and force it up to the surface of the water," Steve said. "Once it's up there, we can get in, too."

A jumbled sound came from Tony's end which Steve decided to take as an affirmation of the plan.

"So, now we wait."

"Always waiting on Mr. Stark," Wanda mumbled.

…

Author's note: Y'all are awesome; I hope each and every one of you knows that. I really appreciate how you all make me feel by sending me such awesome comments.

Have a super awesome day in whatever you're doing!

Thanks!


	24. Chapter 23

Aftermath

Chapter 23

Tony Stark was led into another room a long ways away from where he's seen Sharon. He'd listened to everything that Steve had said and he had no idea what he was going to do. But Steve was right and at this point, he was going to be the only one who could get that vessel above water or at least up to the surface. He had to do something else to change the pressure in that submarine and he began to search for his plan immediately.

"You are awfully quiet, Mr. Stark," Sin said as she led him into a sitting room. It surprised Tony to see something so formal on a submarine, but there was no way he was going to let that on.

"I'm not really ready to have some kind of tea party, Ms. Schmitt," Tony replied politely. "I would be interested in talking about Sharon. Or perhaps your surrender."

Sin turned from the table where she poured herself a drink while she chuckled.

"You are everything I have ever heard about you, Mr. Stark."

"You're precious, you know that?" Tony asked rhetorically. "But you're just a tad off, aren't you?"

"Now what is wrong with that?" she asked while wearing a coy smile.

Tony shook his head inside his helmet. "Absolutely nothing. It's the so-called sane ones you have to look out for," he replied.

"Can you sit in that suit?" she asked. "I'd like you to be able to make yourself comfortable."

"If you aren't going to say something about Sharon or perhaps an apology for the murder of my parents, then I'm not really interested in talking with you," Tony said. "Otherwise, I'd much rather get this over and done with."

"Well, I don't think either of those things are going to happen, Mr. Stark," Sin said. "Would you like a drink?"

"No thank you," he said. "What is your endgame here, Ms. Schmitt? What do you want Hydra to do?"

"We're taking over the world," she said with a smile. She sat opposite Tony and crossed her legs out in front of her. "We're going to do what your friends Loki and Ultron couldn't do," she said. "Don't look so surprised, Tony. I know everything. It's better this way, really. I promise your insignificant lives won't change much. But we _will_ be taking over. And all of you enhanced folks will get in line or we will eliminate you. There really is no place for you in this world anyway. I _could_ kill you now and you could be reunited with your parents…I understand you recently saw the footage of their… _untimely_ …deaths…"

"Deaths that _you_ ordered."

"I'm flattered, Mr. Stark, but I was much too young to be responsible for that," Sin grinned. "But I really do appreciate the acknowledgement."

Tony shook his head. "Let's cut the bullshit, Sin. We don't like each other and that's perfectly fine. But it'll be over my dead body that you and your band of Hydra idiots takes over the world."

Sin took a long drink and studied Tony for a moment in silence.

"I do have to admire you and your devotion to this world."

"Please help me to understand why you have this need," Tony said. "I want to know why you are…you."

"I am this way because the world _made_ me this way."

Tony relaxed slightly in his seat. "Did you get all your villain lines on the internet database somewhere? I hope it was free because that was awful."

"I do not need to listen you, Tony Stark."

"Then why are you?" Tony asked.

He was trying to stretch time, hoping that Steve and the others were getting close.

"What do _you_ want, Mr. Stark?" Sin smiled.

"You – in jail. And world peace," Tony told her.

Sin chuckled. "That's adorable. And commendable. But you know this is all so much bigger than either you or I," Sin said.

"You're delusional," Tony said. "And we'll stop you."

Sin shook her head. "No, you won't."

She stood abruptly and moved to the door. Before opening it, she turned around and smiled. "I really do admire you, Tony Stark. You've managed to keep the Stark name alive and well. But, you'll now know what it's like to have your empire toppled."

Tony raised a hand to fire his repulsor and Sin simultaneously pressed a button on her wrist. Tony's repulsor failed and is suit shut down totally a moment later.

"I'm prepared, Mr. Stark. Just a tiny EMP to keep the man of iron out my way. Take your suit away and you aren't much of a threat, are you?"

Tony frowned. He hated when people said that. All of it.

"I guess we'll see what I'm capable of without the suit," Tony told her.

Sin smiled as Tony heard the muffled sounds coming from her earpiece. "Perfect. My next guests have arrived."

Sin closed the door, but left it cracked as she walked away. Tony wanted to rush the exit, but he was almost afraid of what he'd find. He knew, without a doubt, that she'd left the door open for a reason. And he was going to have to take a breath and be patient so he could pass the test.

Luckily, Tony's suit was built with a back-up plan. He thought of it as playing 'possum. He'd known that an EMP could be used to shut him or War Machine down easily and there was no way he would stand for that cowardly act. He'd created the suits with a mechanism that temporarily shut down function while simultaneously recharging the sensors and repulsors. So far, Tony had never used it because there wasn't a need.

Tony took a deep breath of relief as the suit began to power up once more. He was glad to know that the damn thing worked like it should. He knew he'd be able to do something without the suit, but Tony just didn't want to have to. Now he just had to make sure the rest of his team wasn't getting ambushed.

… …

"You're just going to run in there without a plan?" Natasha asked Steve.

"Have you been able to pick up Tony's signal?" Steve asked as he put his shield on his back.

Natasha pointed something out to Wanda and the back of the quinjet opened up. Sam and Scott joined them a moment later.

"Are you all right?" Wanda asked Scott. "You look...nauseous."

"I don't think flying is for me," Scott said. "At least, not outside of a plane."

"Well, get your bearings," Steve said. "We're waiting for Tony to give us the word."

"I'm trying to use our sonar to locate the submarine," Natasha began. "But they must be using some kind of cloaking. And I can't get Stark."

"You can't get him? So now we can't get Sharon or Tony? And we can't find the damn submarine?"

Natasha nodded from the cockpit. "You've got it all, there Cap."

"That is unacceptable."

"Cap, I know you're upset," Sam began. "But without a plan, if we just run in there, we'll just be dead. We don't know the kind of fire power they've got down there. We aren't even sure that we're in the right place now."

"I can't not try to do something," Steve said. "I heard Sharon's voice. I know Tony saw her. And the both of them are down there. I have to do everything I can to get down there and take down Hydra and get Tony and Sharon out of there."

"We have the slight problem of nowhere to land this thing," Scott said. "And we don't know exactly where the big monster submarine thing is."

"You're not very optimistic, TicTac," Sam replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a tad overwhelmed," Scott said.

Natasha rolled her eyes because she knew exactly what Steve was going to say.

"We don't have time for you to be overwhelmed, Lang," Steve replied, turning around to face him. "I apologize for throwing you into this, but I don't have a choice. Not now."

Natasha chuckled to herself when Steve confirmed what she'd been thinking. Then a blip on a screen caught her attention.

"Steve, I've got something…" Natasha started, but was cut off.

"Did you think you could sneak up on me, Captain Rogers?" Sin's voice said.

"How did she get on our frequency?" Steve asked them all.

Sam and Scott shrugged. Natasha offered an opinion.

"I think she's got Stark's comm," she said.

"From his helmet?" Wanda asked her.

"Is that my dear sister?" Sin asked. "Natalia, I _am_ pleased that we will have a little family reunion," Sin said.

Natasha gritted her teeth in anger, but managed to keep her mouth closed.

"Don't worry, I've got your friends. I'm going to make Captain America watch me kill his little girlfriend. So, I will make it really easy for you all," Sin finished. "Smooches! See you all soon!"

From under the water, beneath them, the submarine began to rise to the surface. Within two minutes, the vessel had risen and an entrance was visible.

"Open the hatch," Steve said as calmly as possible, but he felt anything but calm.

"Steve, you can't…" Natasha started, but she saw the look on his face. "I'm going to give FRIDAY control of the quinjet and I'm coming with you."

"You should…" Steve began.

"You can't tell me not to go, Steve. I'm not letting you go without me, all right?"

Steve nodded. He wasn't in a position to argue and he _could_ use all the help he could get.

"We're really going in there?" Scott asked as he looked down out of the window at the sub that was now partially exposed.

"What's the matter, TicTac? You got a problem with that?" Sam asked.

"Sam, lay off. None of us is that excited about this," Steve said.

Sam rolled his eyes, but nodded at Steve.

"They're making it so easy for us. Why?" Wanda asked.

"They're playing with us," Sam said while Natasha nodded.

"But why would they just invite us down there?" Wanda asked.

Steve shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm going to give them one hell of a fight."

Natasha gave an affirming nod and put the quinjet into autopilot where FRIDAY could control it. Natasha hoped the AI's sensors would keep from the collisions that she was imagining in her head. She flipped one last switch and the back hatch of the plane opened up.

"You going with me?" Steve asked Nat.

She double checked that she had all her weapons and Steve put an arm around her waist. With his other hand on a rope tied inside the plane, he turned to the remaining group.

"See you all down there," he told them.

Inside the submarine, Steve expected to find total chaos or perhaps have a gun to his head. He and Nat were alone in silence until the other team members joined them.

They all braced themselves for an onslaught and instead, Sin's voice came through the space around them.

"Welcome to _one_ of our submarines, Captain. However, it pleases me greatly to inform you that it is _not_ the one you were hoping for," Sin's voice told them. "Please, do enjoy your ride."

They all made a mad dash for the door they'd just come in and as they began to turn the handle, Sin's voice came back on.

"Oh, and I wouldn't attempt to leave. By now, you are several miles underwater. Goodbye, Avengers," Sin cackled.

…

Sin had been standing in the room with Sharon while she made her announcement to the Avengers.

"You shouldn't look so pleased with yourself, Sin," Sharon said from her chair on one side of the room.

"And why is that?" Sin asked while she paced happily.

Sharon chuckled. "Because you tricked them like you're a villain from Scooby-Doo," she said.

Sin's smile immediately fell. "You are in position to make those little comments," Sin said while she got into Sharon's face.

From out of nowhere, a blast came towards the two women. Sin was knocked to the ground, unconscious at Sharon's bound ankles. Sharon looked down at the woman for a brief moment before looking up to see what had saved her.

She breathed a sigh of relief when a familiar someone walked in the room.

"That line about the Scooby-Doo villain..." Tony said after his face plate slid back. "That was good," he smiled. "What do you say we get you outta this and we get out of here?" Tony asked.

…

A/N: Hello all you lovely people! Here is my newest update on the eve of the digital release of Civil War. You all are seriously the best!

Let me know what you thought of the newest chapter!

thomthom


	25. Chapter 24

"Seriously, that Scooby-Doo villain line was superb," Tony said as he helped Sharon with Sin's bindings.

"We should make sure when she wakes up she can't scream," Sharon said.

"And then we need to get your cleaned up," Tony noted as he surveyed the dried blood on Sharon's face. "How are your ribs where she kicked you?"

"I'm fine," Sharon said. "And we don't have time to worry about it. We need to find the others," she finished.

"But…"

"I'm going to be okay. Nothing I haven't dealt with before," she said.

"Doesn't mean I like it," he said in response.

She paused to hug Tony and caught him off-guard. "Thank you.

"For what? I…"

"You've always been there for me," she said.

"And I always will be," he said back.

Sin's eyes flew open during their touching moment and she immediately struggled against her bonds.

"Oh, no, no," Tony waggled a finger at her. "You're not going anywhere, okay?"

She was screaming against the gag in her mouth, her eyes wild.

"You wanna kick her?" Tony asked. "Give her a taste of her own medicine?"

Sharon shook her head. "No. She's going to answer to someone above my pay grade for all of her evil plots."

"Are you sure? Because I think it would be good to kick her. I don't normally condone violence toward women, but I'm making an exception in your case, my dear," Tony turned toward Sin to say.

She continued to struggle against her bindings, but wasn't able to loosen anything.

"Enjoy your stay at the Love Boat," Tony said to Sin as they exited the room.

"Now we need to make sure the other one isn't the _Titanic_ ," Sharon told him. "Brock Rumlow – he's an LMD and all the other minions are hive-minded."

"Like AIM was doing?" Tony asked.

"Just like AIM," she said. "We just need to figure out where the control room is," she added.

"Well, I came from that end and hadn't seen anything," Tony told her.

"Left it is," Sharon replied.

" _Princess_ didn't say anything about where she was sending Cap and company?" Tony asked.

They rounded a sharp corner and Sharon took down two of the Hydra soldiers on her own. She confiscated their weapons and Tony watched in quiet admiration for a moment.

"Are you coming?" Sharon turned.

"I'm sorry. I'm just…sometimes you still surprise me. Remember, I thought you were a nurse, too."

Sharon smiled. "C'mon, old man," she laughed.

"Okay, no more of that _old man_ BS or you're out of the will," Tony replied. "You got that?" he smiled to himself inside the Iron Man helmet.

Tony and Sharon disappeared down the hall, headed for what they hoped was the control room of the submarine.

However, behind them, the Brock Rumlow LMD had wandered inside the room that had housed Sharon and now held a very pissed off Sin. He unceremoniously took off her gag and she let out a string of curses in a variety of languages.

"Get me out of here!" she shouted.

"Where is our prisoner?" Brock asked.

Sin screamed in his face while he cut through the ropes and ties.

"Stark got her out!"

"You blew the EMP!" Rumlow shouted.

She knew she was now talking to Cathy through the LMD and she had no time or patience for the task.

"I know!" Sin said through gritted teeth. "He must have used some kind of counter measure."

"Your full-proof LMD managed to blow the GPS in the whole damn ship so…"

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Sin shouted.

"I expected, as the daughter of the Red Skull, you would be better organized. I'm sorry to say I was wrong."

"Shut up!" Sin shouted. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

Sin had had it. She reached out with her bare hands and ripped wiring from the Crossbones LMD. The LMD moved forward slightly then the life drained out of the LED eyes.

"I'm going to handle the Avengers myself!" Sin shouted before pushing the now-inanimate LMD to the ground. It landed with a loud thud and Sin stared down at it for a moment. "You were useless to me anyway."

…

"So, we need a plan. A fast plan," Scott said. "What are we going to do?"

"How fast do you think we're going?" Steve asked Natasha.

"Too fast to get out and be able to swim up to the surface. It'll drag us behind it."

"Let's try to find the control room," Sam suggested.

"Do you think this submarine is guarded?" Wanda asked.

"Well, we can take 'em out if it is," Steve said. "We need to take control of the situation now."

The submarine they were in was old and Steve immediately recognized it as a relic of his own past. Cobwebs and dust were everywhere as they finally found a porthole window.

Steve confirmed that they were moving and they were deep in the water.

"Anyone have an idea?" Steve asked. "Anyone?"

"If we could get the thing to the surface, Lang and I can fly for help," Sam said.

Scott nodded. They all still had equipment.

"Wanda, could you move the whole thing?" Steve asked.

She was quiet for a moment. "I, um…I don't really know. I don't know…"

"It's okay, Wanda," Steve said while he put a hand on her shoulder.

She didn't want to disappoint her teammates, but she also was uncertain of the situation. She had no idea of what she'd be getting them out of or what that actually involved.

Steve stood for a moment to try to orient himself in the submarine. He'd been in dozens just like it, but that was more than 70 years ago. He closed his eyes and tried to let the memories come back. He needed to remember. It took a moment, but it slowly came back to him. He remembered the sounds and the smells and he remembered the men of the Howling Commandos as they all took the Hydra sub.

He opened his eyes and looked at his newest team. "This way," he said before moving on ahead.

The four others looked to each other briefly, all shrugging to one another before moving in a single file line behind their captain.

"They'd moved through 50 feet of sub before Steve stopped them outside of a particular door.

"So far, we've been lucky. But behind this door is the control room and…"

"And we won't know until we open the door. We've come this far, man. And we're going to keep following you," Sam said.

"You're our leader, Steve. And we trust you," Wanda added. There was a wistful tone to her voice but no one questioned it.

"Let's go," Natasha said, hand on the door handle.

"I'll do it," Steve said, gently moving her hand away. "I should go first."

"We've got this, man."

"And if and when this door is rigged to explode when someone opens it?" Steve asked.

"We'll deal then," Sam said. "On three"

"Three," they all said together.

They opened the door together and paused briefly. They waited for something to happen.

Steve pushed the door all the way open and held up his shield to protect his team. But nothing happened. He let out a breath of relief that he didn't realized he'd been holding.

"I hate to admit this, but I feel like someone really missed their chance to blow us up," Nat said in a sarcastic tone.

Sam nodded and Steve and Scott looked around at all the controls.

"Does anyone know…"

"Don't worry, Captain America, I can do this," Scott said assertively.

"You know you can call him Steve, right?" Sam said.

"And miss out on the full title? I don't think so," Tony said into their ears. "Hey, kids!" he added.

"Tony?" Steve said.

"In the flesh, inside the iron," Tony said in reply. "And I've got a surprise for you."

"Hi, Steve, are you okay?" Sharon's voice asked.

"Am I okay? Are _you_ okay?" Steve asked.

"I think we should catch up later," Wanda said to Steve. 

"Did you all know that you are headed into the side of an underwater mountain?" Tony asked.

"What do you think?" Sam asked.

"What can we do so we aren't doing that?" Steve replied. He was so grateful that Sharon was all right, but he knew he needed to focus on keeping everyone else all right as well.

"Your submarine is being remotely controlled," Sharon told them. "Tony is working on hacking the server on this sub. You're currently headed for Antarctica and we're…"

"We're not moving anymore," Tony said.

"Did you do that?" Steve asked.

Sharon and Tony replied together. "No."

"Shit," Sharon hissed. "Shit, shit, shit."

Back aboard their submarine, they'd come to a complete stop. They'd barricaded themselves in the control room and Tony had taken to working through the computers. He'd managed to turn the beast around, towards the second submarine, and they'd come to a full halt instead.

"Okay, so someone…" Tony began.

"Cathy," Sharon replied. "It has to be Cathy."

"If she weren't so evil, I would almost be impressed with her skills," Tony said. "But I'm not."

"Can you manually override the override?" Sharon asked him.

"You're asking for _Inception?_ " Tony asked her back.

She shrugged. "Kinda, yeah," Sharon replied.

"Okay, I'll do my very best," Tony said. "FRIDAY, lend a hand?"

…

Author's note: my apologies for a shorter than usual chapter, but I thought this was a good stopping point.

How many times have y'all watched Civil War now? LOL. I wish I had more time to watch it more than the one time.

Thanks all for your kind words! Keep being awesome!


	26. Chapter 25

Aftermath

Chapter 25

Natasha and Sam stood behind Scott as he fiddled with the submarine's controls. It had been 15 minutes since they'd made contact again with Tony and Sharon and he'd been working diligently to stop the vessel.

"So, do you have _anything_ yet?" Sam asked.

Nat hit Sam lightly on the upper arm to chastise him, but waited for Scott to reply.

"Well, this is a real pickle, yessiree. I don't know why I just said that," Scott said in one long breath.

"Scott, if you aren't able to do this, we can figure something else out," Steve told him.

Scot shook his head and held up an index finger to silence the group. He did a bit more button pressing before turning around to face the group.

"Voila!" he shouted while the sub stopped hard.

"Way to go, Tic Tac!" Sam clapped him on the back.

"That was iffy there for a minute, but, whoo!" Scott said. "Does this mean that I can be an official Avenger now?" he asked.

Steve gave him a small smile. "If when this whole thing is over with and we're all still alive, you're an Avenger for sure."

Scott smiled. "Is there some kind of secret handshake or code word?" he asked. "You can get that to me later; super not important right now."

"We aren't the Little Rascals, Lang," Tony deadpanned into their ears.

Steve had no idea what the Little Rascals were, but he didn't have the time to care or question it.

"Can you get us turned around?" he asked Scott.

"Oh, I, um…I'm gonna try," Scott said back.

"Sharon, Tony, have you begun moving yet?" Steve asked.

There was a long pause before they answered him back with the _no_ that he didn't want to hear.

"We're coming to you, then," Natasha said. "Where are you? How do we get the coordinates? My GPS doesn't seem to be working."

"I'm having FRIDAY send our location to RedWing. You still have him, right, Wilson?"

"Affirmative," Sam said.

"Lang, will have to get RedWing connected to the sub's GPS. I can't get into this sub's network," Tony told them.

He had both hands on the controls and was focused on the screen in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sharon wobble on her feet and he reached out to help her stay upright.

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Tony asked.

"I'm fine. Just a bit lightheaded. It's over now," she said. "It's probably just seasickness."

"We stopped moving half an hour ago," Tony replied.

"Well, I've been on this damn thing for hours. I can tell you I'm sick of the sea," Sharon said.

Tony was not convinced with her answer, but he had no choice but to continue to work and give instructions to FRIDAY.

"Just got your location, Stark," Sam told them. "Lang is uploading the info into the GPS."

"Good, good," Tony nodded. "Get moving ASAP."

Outside their barricaded door, a loud boom echoed and the two of them turned to face the door. They heard an exasperated scream that was followed by a second loud bang on the door.

"Oh, I think that's for you," Sharon told Tony. "And something tells me it's not the Avon Lady."

Tony's faceplate came down out of his helmet and the two of them readied themselves for the fight that was coming.

A third bang erupted around them and ten seconds later, the door flew open, hanging by a singular hinge. Some of Sin's robot army and a battering ram/bench lay forgotten in the hallway behind her as she stood in the doorway.

Stalking into the room, she was breathing hard and clearly seething with rage. She narrowed her eyes and stared the both of them down.

"You think you're so clever, so smart, don't you?" Sin said. "But look at you! The so-called smartest man in the world and you couldn't hack our computer software and you're still trapped here with me. I'm going to make for certain you are all dead. I'm going to see to that personally. And you, blondie, I'm going to make you really suffer."

"First, I gotta say, you're just delightful, princess. But I didn't let Loki and his band of merry aliens take over and…"

Sin screamed again. "My god! Don't you ever shut the hell up?! You all talk incessantly! I'm getting a migraine."

"I don't actually care!" Sharon shouted before rushing at Sin. She moved low and the two went down to the ground. The two launched into the fight that Sharon has been waiting for.

It wasn't until Sin pulled a knife out of nowhere and had it to Sharon's jugular.

"Tony, just shoot her!" Sharon hissed.

Tony had his hand raised and the repulsor readied, but he had no clear shot. He needed Sharon to move or he'd kill the both of them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. Stark," Sin said in an eerie sing-song voice.

"Just. Shoot. Her." Sharon said through her gritted teeth. "I'm so tired of your BS. Our real issue is Cathy, anyway," Sharon said.

Sin jerked the knife and a small trickle of blood dripped down Sharon's neck and onto her white suit.

"You're stupider than I thought!" Sin laughed as she held Sharon in a death grip. "I'm the one running this! I'm the one in charge! Cathy is…"

Sharon was able to distract her long enough to bend Sin's arm back almost to a breaking point. Her hand went slack in Sharon's grip and the knife clattered to the ground.

Sin grabbed a handful of Sharon's hair and tugged, forcing Sharon's head back. The two women were once more locked in a fight.

"You're a real bitch!" Sin shouted as she tried to get her hand out before Sharon's totally dislocated her shoulder.

"Now that isn't very nice," Tony said.

Tony hadn't mean to leave the fight to Sharon, but he'd taken the chance of Sin's distraction and had moved to the computer controls to try one more thing to get the sub moving again.

What he'd done hadn't worked and he turned back to Sharon while she jerked Sin's arm back once more. Sharon tugged hard again and Sin cried out in pain.

"Its okay, Tony. It's nothing I haven't heard before," Sharon said. "Are we moving?"

"We are," Tony nodded.

"Where are we going?" Sharon asked him.

"Excellent question, kiddo," Tony replied.

"You didn't do this?" Sharon asked.

Sin began to cackle and Sharon responding by wrenching the woman's arm back until she heard the telltale pop. Sin changed from the maniacal laughter to screaming in pain.

The faceplate on Tony's helmet moved back and he made eye contact with Sharon. She shrugged while she continued to hold Sin tight. Sharon knew that even wounded with a dislocated shoulder, Sin would continue to be dangerous.

Breathing hard and gathering some composure, Sin hissed back to Sharon. "We're re-routing," she said.

"Where?" Tony asked.

"You'll see when we get there. And I can guarantee you'll have a ton of fun," Sin hissed.

Sharon was getting angrier by the second, which was no small feat. She pulled on the pained shoulder again and caused more pain for Sin.

"You tell us where we're going or…"

"Stand down," one of the formerly broken down robot minions told them. There were now at least two dozen hive-minded robots standing in front of them with weapons raised in their direction.

"Damn it," Sharon hissed. She took her last chance and knocked Sin out while she was also distracted and she dropped to the ground, out cold.

"Let's do this," Tony said.

Tony and Sharon began to fight the robots that began to swarm them in the control room. When they thought they were nearing the end, a new batch would arrive.

Sharon was trapped between three when something familiar caught her attention. A red and blue blur flew past her and took out several of the robots in one fell swoop.

In an instant, the small control room was flooding with the other Avengers who were now joined by Vision.

Natasha joined Sharon and they were back to back fighting the robots.

"You guys decided to have a party without us?" Nat said before taking down her robots.

"I will definitely want to know how you guys got here, when we're done with these things," Sharon breathed hard. She was able to make eye contact with Steve across the room and she gave him a small smile before continuing her own fight.

"What the hell are these things?" Sam shouted.

"They're hive-minded robots," Tony said as he blasted one. He was trying to be careful because the small room did not lend itself to the blasting.

After an indeterminate amount of time and robots, they finally stopped coming. Sin was still out cold when Sharon checked on her.

"How did you get here?" Sharon said to the group.

"Vision met us with a quinjet," Wanda said as she smiled at him.

"We didn't want to miss out on all the fun," Natasha said.

"Do you know where this thing is headed?" Sam asked.

"No," Sharon said as she moved to stand by Steve. "We – I – got angry and decided I didn't want to talk to her anymore."

"I thought…" Steve said as he looked down into Sharon's eyes. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

"It's okay. I'm okay," Sharon said.

Steve smiled at Sharon and then turned to Tony. "Thank you, Tony," he said.

Tony shook his head. "You would have done the same thing, Cap," he said.

The two men shared their moment briefly before another familiar voice came over the submarine's sound system.

"You've done well so far and I do have to commend you," Cathy said. "But you've got an uphill battle. You'll be docking in ten minutes and I've got a thoroughly amazing surprise for you all. And it'll culminate in all of your deaths."

Cathy's voice was gone as quickly as it had come.

"Where the hell are we?" Tony asked Vision.

"Our last location was off the coast of Spain," Vision told him.

"Spain?" Sharon repeated. She was going to say something else, but was hit by another wave of lightheadedness.

"Sharon?" Steve said. "You look really pale."

"I'm fine," she hissed. "I just haven't eaten in a while and…I'm fine. I promise," she finished. "We just need to focus on the situation."

"Sleeping Beauty is waking up over here," Scott said.

All the faces turned toward Sin and by the time she was fully awake, she was staring into the faces of the Avengers.

"You're going to tell us where we're going," Steve said down into Sin's face.

…

Sin talked; after having her other shoulder threatened. And by the time she'd finished telling them where they were headed – to an underground facility on the coast of Spain – they'd reached their destination.

Apparently, this was where Cathy was holed up; this was where the new Hydra base had been established.

They essentially had no time to come up with a plan and Sin hadn't been to the facility, so she couldn't tell them what exactly they were walking into. And to top it all off, they were tired and low on firepower. The odds were stacked against them, but that was nothing new.

As a group, with Sin in tow as their prisoner, they emerged from the submarine and walked into the underground fortress that Hydra had built for themselves.

Steve Rogers was having flashbacks as he walked into the facility. It was modeled after one of the Hydra bases he had taken down in the forties. He shook his head to try and clear his mind, but it was difficult for him to focus.

"Steve?" Sharon said, noticing his hesitation as they walked. "Are you all right?" She asked.

"I'm fine. It's just…familiar. And I don't like that," he said.

"Have you been here before?" she asked him.

"No," he shook his head. "But it's just like one of the original Hydra bases. It's…"

They were stopped as Cathy, in all her self-appointed glory, appeared before them with what had to be hundreds of the Hydra robot soldiers.

"Couldn't get anyone else to join you so you had to build an army?" Tony asked her.

Cathy smiled evilly. "Mr. Stark, it was a pleasure to have a hand in your parents' deaths and it will be even greater to have orchestrated yours. My soldiers, you have your orders."

She turned on her heel and stepped back while the sea of robot soldiers swarmed them.

"Do we have a plan?" Sam shouted.

"Stay alert! Stay alive!" Steve shouted.

"Short, sweet and easy to remember," Tony said. "I like it!"

Everyone began to fight as the sea of robot soldiers came towards them. Reminiscent of the Ultron robots, but they were lacking any intelligence. They were all hive-minded and clearly Cathy was going for quantity over quality.

Tony and Steve were taking down a half dozen each at a time while the rest of them were doing their best to keep their heads above water. Cathy was standing at the back of the large hall watching with total glee as the Avengers were overwhelmed and significantly outnumbered.

Sharon knew she was going to have to get up to her somehow, but she kept getting bogged down with her set of robots. Every time she was able to take a step or two forward towards Cathy, she was blocked by another set of robots.

Those that could fly, with the exception of Wanda and Vision, were taking advantage of being able to get off of the ground periodically.

"I know this is part of being a part of the team, but this is getting to be a bit much," Scott shouted to Natasha.

She nodded. "I hate to say it, but I'm starting to agree with you," she said.

They were getting tired, and that was something that Cathy had obviously counted on. But despite their clear exhaustion, they fought on.

Vision was guarding Wanda during the whole thing. She wasn't great at hand to hand combat and while she would be able to use her powers to throw groups of the robots away, more would be rushing towards her and she was becoming overwhelmed. Vision was able to be the eyes on the back of her head; he was taking down the robot-soldiers as quickly as he could.

Despite the help, Wanda was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the amount of adversaries coming in her direction. She panicked as a dozen or so descended upon her and she used her powers to throw them in all directions. Seeing this, Steve hurriedly pulled Sharon out of the way of one that was sailing in her direction.

Wanda wanted to apologize, but there was no time. Another wave was coming towards her and she tried to deflect them, but missed. Wanda was knocked off her feet and laid temporarily stunned on the ground.

Vision and Sharon moved towards her and while Vision was able to take care of the onslaught, Sharon got Wanda to her feet.

"Thank you," Wanda told Sharon.

Sharon waved her off. "No problem. We've gotta help each other," she said with a weary smile.

Wanda returned an equally exhausted look and they summoned the last of their energy to fight again. With one last look, Sharon jumped into the fray. She was determined to make her way through to Cathy. She _was_ going to get there or she was going to die trying. She was going to make the woman pay for choosing Hydra.

…

Author's note: okay, there was the latest installment. We're nearing the end! Hopefully, despite my long absences, you're still with the story!

Let me know what you thought of this chapter, please and thank you!


	27. Chapter 26

Aftermath

Chapter 26

Captain Steve Rogers cut down soldier after soldier with both his shield and bare hands as fast as they could come at him. He was tiring, but he was going to keep moving. He'd seen Wanda go down to the ground and was immediately relieved when both Vision and Sharon went to her aid.

Tony was to his far left, in the furthest corner in the space and was using his repulsor blasts sparingly. For that, Steve was grateful; there was a huge potential for collateral damage because of the unknown structure of the underground facility.

Sam and Scott were in front of him, each holding their own and Nat, despite a bloody lip and looking a bit winded, was keeping up, too.

Cathy stood at the front of the room looking smug with her wicked smile. She was enjoying the torture she inflicted on them.

Her smile widened when she saw Steve watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"Is there something the matter, Captain America?" she asked. "Are you beginning to tire? Perhaps the super-soldier serum wasn't as amazing as you all thought?"

He turned to her and without looking, continued to take down her robot/soldiers and shook his head. "I can do this all day."

Cathy nodded. "That is impressive, Captain. But I'm willing to make sure that you _do_ have to do this all day. I don't think your friends can do that, so perhaps you shouldn't speak for all of them?" she said with a sweeping motion of her arm. More soldiers came in, filling the room to it's capacity.

Even if they had the other Avengers, Steve knew they were outnumbered significantly and absolutely overwhelmed. And he couldn't let them continue to fight like this; Steve had to put an end to all of this.

However, before he could continue on up to Cathy, he saw Sharon moving. She was heading for the woman up front and she wore a determined look on her face.

"Sharon!" he called, but she was focused on one task and one task only.

Tony saw where she was headed and tried to get her attention as well, but failed.

"Rogers!" Tony called out, but Steve could only shrug. Neither of them could move to block her path.

Cathy continued to smile wickedly while new and improved versions of Brock Rumlow and Trevor walked out and stood on either side of their leader.

"You can keep bringing in more LMDs, Cathy, but we'll end them," Sharon said. "And then you. And if you hadn't killed Trevor, you wouldn't have had to have the fake replacement."

"Ooh, I'm _so_ scared," Cathy laughed sarcastically. "The niece of the great Peggy Carter is coming for me," she laughed. "All of your threats and your boyfriend and the Avengers – none of these things scare me. None. So, you can try your worst, but I can promise you that Hydra will still come out on top."

Brock and Trevor, as LMDs, moved out towards Sharon and a fast pace. Both were after her and she was certainly not afraid.

Sharon knew it wasn't the best idea to go up against the two LMDs on her own, but she was going to do everything in her power to take Cathy down. She put all of her pain, and frustration into her next move, which was a powerful kick that sent Trevor flying. He crashed to the wall and did not get up.

"Me next, sweetheart," Rumlow said with a wicked smile. Despite the fact that he was a robot, he was the Brock Rumlow she knew through and through.

"I'm going to make it so you're like your pal over there, Rumlow," Sharon said.

Rumlow chuckled. "Okay, blondie. You bring your A game and I'll bring mine. I promise you, I'll win."

Sharon braced herself for what was coming next and was able to dodge the first two strikes from him. She moved fast and she had that over the semi-lumbering robot Rumlow. And she was going to have to keep it up because she was on her own; she'd gone up there and now she was going to prove her worth.

Rumlow was fighting dirty, which Sharon had anticipated and she thought she was doing her own version of it while his fist connected with the side of her face. She hadn't seen his right hand coming and she staggered back in total shock and surprise. Sharon saw stars and her head spun before she was able to shake herself clear again.

Sharon spun away from him and brought her foot into one of the LMD's legs. She put him off balance just long enough for her to get in an additional kick to his groin. She hoped that while he was a robot, he would be distracted and she was rewarded. He doubled over in pain as though it actually felt the pain.

Rumlow was breathing hard and red in the face when he looked up to Sharon once more.

Steve was watching as best he could, but he remained busy with his own adversaries. He hated that Sharon had marched up there, but there was little he could do at this point.

Tony Stark wasn't happy either. Inside his helmet he was frowning and he nearly had a heart attack when Rumlow got a shot in to Sharon's face. He'd seen her stumble but then he saw her getting back into the fight with Rumlow. Even though she was holding her own, all he wanted was to be able to get over there and help her.

Natasha, Sam and Scott continued their fights. Each was surrounded by a half dozen of the soldier/robots and all of them were looking tired out.

"I'm really sorry to be this guy, but are we gonna be done with this soon?" Scott asked.

Natasha didn't have the time or the excess energy to expend to roll her eyes. She was so over this and her patience was so far beyond _gone_ ; Nat wanted this fight to be over, too.

She was knocking down a line of them when she realized she was running out of the widow's bite ammo on her wrists. She was frowning when she took down another three of the robots.

"I don't want to be a buzzkill, Steve, but I'm starting to run low, if you know what I mean," she shouted over to Steve.

"I hate to admit it, too, but I don't' think we can do this," Scott told him.

"Really, Tic Tac?" Sam said. He was trying to stay positive, but he wasn't all that convincing.

"Just keep fighting," Tony said. "Keep going!"

"Stark…"

"C'mon, we can't give up!" Tony shouted. "We've come this far!"

Everyone moved back into their fighting stances, breathing hard and regrouping for a split second before they got moving again.

"Cap, I'm going to try to get up there."

"I've got this, Tony," Sharon shouted before landing a solid punch on Rumlow.

Rumlow growled, then smiled. "Don't worry, Stark, I'm going to take care of her," he replied to Tony before he retaliated. He got another crack in to her face. She was knocked back a couple of steps but managed to keep herself upright.

She was determined to take this LMD down. She was furious – both at the situation and the man that this LMD was representing. She had worked with the man for years; she'd trusted him, and while this was no longer the real Brock Rumlow, he still represented him and his traitorous actions. And for both her Aunt Peggy and Steve, she was going to get rid of Rumlow and then she would move on to Cathy.

"It's really adorable that you keep popping back up for more, Blondie," Rumlow told her. "You're going to tire out and I won't – I'm a robot, remember, kid?" Rumlow sneered.

Sharon felt the bruise blooming under her eye and she had a split lip, but she stood to face the LMD before her.

"Well, I'm not tired yet," Sharon smiled back.

Sharon and the Rumlow LMD launched once more, with both parties hitting their hardest. Sharon would get a hit in and Rumlow would get one more to retaliate. Both kept moving, keeping a safe distance from the other until a strike.

She was biding her time. She knew how to take down and LMD, even one advanced as this one was.

Rumlow launched toward her once more and Sharon landed an impressive roundhouse kick to the LMD's upper chest, which managed to display some of the machine's wiring. That was step one.

He ignored the fact that his internal wiring was showing and his continued again after Sharon. Rumlow got a kick to Sharon's ribs before she reached in and pulled out a handful of wiring.

"You think that's going to stop me, honey? You got another thing…" Rumlow was promptly cut off by Tony frying him with a blast from a repulsor.

"You all right, kiddo?" Tony asked.

"I had this! Tony, I _had_ this!" she said, shoving Tony as hard as she could.

"That thing was about to annihilate you," Tony said. "I…"

Their disagreement stopped when they heard Cathy's cackle. Both turned to see her readying to escape into the underground facility.

Tony shot the elevator's buttons with a blast from his repulsors. "Oh, I don't think so, lady," he said. "We're going to have words. Call off your minions. That is not a request."

Cathy laughed. "You know I don't listen to you. I don't answer to you, Stark. And I definitely don't care.'

The control panel for the elevator was useless, but it appeared that Cathy had other methods of getting out, she started to move in another direction, but Tony fired at her again.

"Call off your minions," Tony told her once more. "I don't want to have to tell you again," he said while holding out his repulsor.

"If you're going to kill me, Mr. Stark, you ought to just try. But you won't stop what's in motion for Hydra. Or for the world."

Tony was ready to shout, but Sharon stopped him. "No, Cathy is mine."

Tony's face mask slid back. "You have got to be kidding me, Sharon," Tony said. "That is the most ridiculous thing…"

"Tony, I have never been more serious in my life," she said as she walked towards Cathy. "If you want a fight, I'm going to give it to you. But you're going to have to do it yourself."

Cathy smiled. "Oh, Sharon. You don't know what you just set yourself up for."

Cathy backed up a few steps, but moved into a fighting position.

"I'll be you think I'm just a crazy, old lady," Cathy said.

"Crazy – yes," Sharon replied.

"Give me your best, Sharon Carter. And I promise to make your death as painless as possible."

The women launched toward one another.

It didn't seem to matter that Cathy was twice Sharon's age and then some – she held her own.

Cathy moved with grace; skills she'd learned from very young age and was still practicing. She'd had a lot of time away from her gullible husband and she'd honed her skills while she bided her time til Hydra would reign.

Sharon knew the woman would be able to hold her own. Once she'd found out that she'd been Hydra her whole life, Sharon knew that Cathy had been well-trained.

"Rogers!" Tony yelled.

He caught Steve's attention and Steve took a hit from one of the robot/soldiers in his distraction. Steve wanted to get up to the front of the rom and he wanted to be with Sharon in that fight.

"Call off your soldiers, Cathy," Sharon said.

"No. Your friends will continue to be busy. Your friends will not be able to help you. Especially Stark, since he's sitting there like a bump on a log," Cathy said.

"You should watch what you're saying," Sharon said. "I can ask him for help at any time and I know I can count on him. But I'm going to take you on myself," she finished.

"Rumlow's right; you _are_ adorable," Cathy said. Cathy struck out and clocked Sharon on her face. Sharon had a bloody nose and her head was spinning, but she was going to keep going until Cathy was taken down.

Some of the robots began to approach Tony and he had to stop waiting as back up for Sharon and fight his own battle. Tony started to shoot down everything and anything that came towards him.

Steve had lost count on how many of the robots he'd taken down. Even though he had super-strength and speed, he was beginning to tire out. And he wanted to help Sharon. But he couldn't get away.

"Tony?" Steve shouted. His face was contorted in pain as he took a hit from two of the robots at once. Angrily, he spun on his heel and demolished the offending things.

Tony still had his own battle now. He was caught up in the middle of a circle – when he destroyed one another immediately replaced them.

"Do you think she'll run out of these things before we do?" Sam said aloud.

Scott came flying past him, blasted by a robot.

"I don't think it's gonna happen any time soon," Scott said quietly.

Sharon screamed out of total frustration as she launched at Cathy. "Enough!" Sharon screamed. "Enough!"

Her outburst surprised Cathy enough that she did pause her movements briefly out of sheer amusement.

The pause was long enough that Wanda, from across the room, blasted energy at the woman. It sent the totally shocked Cathy crashing to the ground. She scrambled to her feet as Sharon took her chance to close in on her.

"Cathy, we aren't playing around. Call off your horde," Sharon said, looking down at the woman and held her icer out.

"I hate you," Cathy hissed.

"I don't care," Sharon replied. "I really don't. But I do want you to turn off your machines. Do it now, or I will do it for you."

"If you could do it, you would have already," Cathy laughed as she was pushed into a corner. "It's such a shame – you are such a pretty girl and a fairly decent fighter…"

She reached out and tapped Sharon with something. Sharon screamed before falling limply to the ground.

At the sound of Sharon's scream, Tony misfired and the blast from the repulsor went rogue. Steve ducked and deftly deflected the blast away from all of them. Both men left their personal groups of robots behind and moved to the front of the room.

Cathy was laughing like crazy with the woman lying unconscious at her feet.

"What did you do to her?" Steve yelled as he approached Cathy. He moved quickly; he was ready to fight.

"FRIDAY – is she still alive?" Tony asked.

"Breathing is slowed, boss, but…" FRIDAY reported.

Steve tried to rush forward to get closer, but Cathy waggled her finger. "Oh, no, no, no, Captain Rogers," she smiled. "One more step and your fiancé is dead. Right now she's only in a deep sleep, but I can change that in a split second. And don't think I wouldn't do it.

"It is truly admirable, albeit foolish, to do what you've accomplished thus far. You've all dealt with what you were handed. You've fought Loki and Ultron, and I suppose the Red Skull and somehow you're all still a team after your…what would you call it…disagreement? But somehow after all of your hard work, Captain America, Hydra is still here. And all you've done has actually just been a waste of time."

"Listen lady, I've had enough of your bull shit. Give me Sharon," Tony said. "Or I will end you."

"And sully the Stark name?" Cathy asked in a deceivingly innocent voice.

"Honestly, I think killing you would only help improve my reputation," Tony replied. "So get to the part where you're surrendering and handing over Sharon."

The woman was silent for a moment, weighing her options. She looked down to the woman on the ground and kicked her hard in the ribs. Sharon gave an involuntary groan.

Steve took a step forward, the anger clear in face and body language, but Steve put his arm out to stop him.

"Let me go, Tony," he said through gritted teeth. "I have to…"

"You should let him at me, Mr. Stark," Cathy smiled. "I promise I'll be okay. I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve."

"What do you mean?" Steve asked. "What have you done?"

The woman paused and began to peel the mask from her face.

"I'm the next Red Skull," she smiled while her face was a hideously bright shade of red. Behind them, Wanda gasped.

"I'm coming into my full powers now, Captain," she said.

"You're enhanced…"

"I found the original formula created by Dr. Erskine," Cathy said while stepping over Sharon on the ground. "Unfortunately, I had some slight issues modifying it, and came out with the same side effect as my predecessor. But I think I'm doing all right, don't you think so, Captain?" she said while effortlessly removing a handrail from the wall. "I mean, I do think I'm an even match for you now. Probably better, actually. I'm going to first kill you and then the rest of the Avengers. Are you ready?" she asked.

"Why do villains waste so much time telling everyone their evil plots?" Scott asked Natasha in a quiet voice. She shrugged as a response.

They were all waiting with bated breath to find out how things were going to go. Natasha, for one, knew that whatever happened, it wasn't likely to end well for any one.

"Okay, Cathy, if you think that you and I should go head to head, we will."

"You shouldn't do this, Steve," Natasha told him.

He shook his head. "I'm out of options and patience," he said. "I ended the first Red Skull and I'll do it again," he finished before lunging at Cathy.

It might have seemed like a bad idea, but Steve Rogers had a plan when he launched himself at Cathy. He was able to create enough of a distraction that the still-groggy Sharon, who had just come to, could shoot at the control device on Cathy's wrist. He'd seen her move at Cathy's feet and they'd made eye contact long enough to allow her to communicate that she had a plan.

Sharon narrowly missed, in her cloudy haze, but somehow she managed to destroy the device that was keeping Cathy's robots running.

Cathy screamed in frustration while the robots she was using as her protection fell silent by the dozen. She reached out and brought her gun up to fire on Steve. She landed one shot into Steve's left shoulder before he knocked her back with his shield and Sharon used her own weapon to bring the woman down.

"So…what happens now?" Scott asked.

"That was…" Sam said as he pushed one of the offending, but frozen robots down.

"Amazing, right?" Scott finished.

Sharon had iced Cathy; she didn't want her dead. She wanted her to pay for everything she'd done.

Steve was at Sharon's side as she slowly tried to sit up. The world was spinning and she hurt all over, but somehow she got her to her feet and that was the most important thing.

"I'll get her tied up," Tony said. "Get Sharon to the quinjet?"

Steve hooked his good arm around her waist. "C'mon, let's get you out of here? Are you okay to walk?"

"I'll be fine," she said through gritted teeth. "I can…."

"No, you will not carry me, Steve," she said to him.

"She's all right," Tony said over his shoulder. "Still feisty."

"What should we do about these guys?" Scott asked.

"I'll take Sharon back to the quinjet and then we'll make sure they aren't alive again and then shut down the facility."

"I'm staying."

"No," Steve said. "I'll take you and Wanda to the quinjet. You'll make sure she's okay?" he looked to Wanda and she nodded in affirmation. "And it's on autopilot, right?" he asked Vision, who also nodded. "It'll take you to the home base if necessary?" he asked and got another nod.

"I want to stay and see this through."

"Sharon, you did. And you earned the rest," Steve asked. "Please?"

"No," she said while she took a defiant, yet shaky step forward. She glanced down to the new Red Skull on the floor. She was just starting to come around. "Do not move, or I _will_ kill you. I will not give it a second thought." 

"You don't have it in you," she said hoarsely.

She shook her head. "Don't test me," Sharon hissed back.

"Sharon," Tony began. "You now she doesn't deserve it. We'll take her in and she can have her trial. I'm sure both she and Red will enjoy their time with the UN answering for their crimes."

"But Tony…"

"You should listen to your friends, dearie. They seem to know what they're talking about."

"You just keep your mouth shut or I will let her at you and look the other way," Tony said. "That said, you will go back to the quinjet with Rogers and Wanda. It's all just clean up around here anyway."

Sharon stomped in frustration, like a petulant child.

"Are your friends making you mad, child?" Cathy asked.

"Ignore her. Sharon, you're hurt. I'm just trying to do what's best for you. We all are," Tony said.

"You just want to sideline me like Rhodey when he got hurt," Sharon spat.

The look of hurt on Tony's face almost did her in. She didn't know why she was saying these things, but she wished she could take it back.

"All these years, I've spent working to be even half as good as the great Peggy Carter and the genius Tony Stark and what do I have to show for it? Absolutely nothing. Nothing! SHIELD is gone. My career with the CIA is over…"

All of the faces around them had a quizzical expression on them. And both Steve and Tony knew something was up with her.

"What are you saying, Sharon?" Steve asked in a calm voice. He looked her in her eyes and saw only confusion. "This isn't you, Sharon."

"What are you doing?" Tony asked Cathy.

She laughed. "So feeble-minded. Sharon Carter, you're with me now."

"Yes, ma'am," Sharon replied robotically.

"Knock her back out. She's doing something to control her mind."

Everyone turned back to Cathy's evil smile and they all prepared to shoot her. But Sharon got in the way.

"You'll have to get through her first, if you want to get to me," Cathy said.

Sharon's eyes were blank as she stood guard over her new captor. She had a gun in her hand and she stared straight ahead.

"Sharon, Sharon…fight her," Steve encouraged her.

"How did you break Barton from Loki's control?" Tony asked Natasha hurriedly.

"I bashed him on the head; hard," she replied.

"I think we should avoid that," Steve said.

"Shoot them!" Cathy shouted. "Shoot all of them!"

Sharon raised her weapon and fired wildly. She missed all of them – as they all moved out of the way.

"Could you try it a bit harder, Ms. Carter?" Cathy asked as she stayed behind her for cover.

"Sharon Carter!" Don't. Don't do this!" Tony said, trying to get her to focus. But Sharon wasn't having it.

"You don't need to listen to them anymore, Sharon. You and I are in this together," She told her.

"Sharon…" Tony said. "Look at me, Sharon. You need to fight her in there," he said as he pointed to her head. "Don't let her in…"

"I don't have to listen to you anymore," Sharon repeated as she raised her gun in Tony's direction.

She fired and Tony let the bullet hit the suit. Obviously, it didn't hurt him physically but the look on his face was pure and total disappointment.

"Good girl," Cathy smiled. "Very good. Now go after the rest of them."

Tony shook his head. "You'll have to forgive me, kid," he said, raising his hand without another second, he sent a repulsor blast in Sharon's direction. Sharon was sent flying and so was Cathy.

"Tony!" Steve shouted as he watched the woman he loved falling to the ground.

"Do you have a better plan?" Tony shouted as they both ran for Sharon. The remaining Avengers moved towards Cathy.

"You all are going to take care of her, right?" Steve asked.

"You worry about Sharon," Sam said. "We've got this."

"We need something to keep her from being able to do this again when she wakes up," Scott said.

"What are you suggesting?" Nat asked. "Aluminum foil hat?"

"I mean…" Scott trailed off.

"You have got to be joking," Natasha said.

"Just handle it, okay?" Tony shouted. The stress was clear in his voice. Both he and Steve were crouched around Sharon and she wasn't waking up.

"FRIDAY?" Tony asked in a distressed voice.

"Boss, I'm having some difficulty detecting signs of life," the AI said.

"CPR?" Wanda suggested. She moved the men out of the way and checked the fallen woman's breathing and pulse. "I've…I mean, I think I've got a pulse…" she said before beginning to chest compressions. Wanda knew that the two men standing before her wouldn't be able to control their strength.

"C'mon, Sharon, don't do this to me," Tony said. "C'mon..."

"You can do this…" Wanda whispered, for both herself and Sharon.

It felt like a lifetime had passed while Wanda attempted between chest compressions and meaningful breaths.

"Mr. Stark, her pulse is strong now," FRIDAY reported to them. "Chest compressions can cease."

"So why isn't she awake?" Steve asked.

"How is brain function?" Tony asked.

"Without a full head CT, boss, I cannot fully evaluate Ms. Carter's status…"

"FRIDAY…" he said in an annoyed voice. "What _do_ you know?" he demanded.

"Tony…" Steve said softly.

"No, this is my fault," he said. "It's always my fault," he trailed off.

"My initial scans show that brain function is still preserved," FRIDAY told them. "But she needs proper medical care as soon as possible."

"Okay, we need to move! Let's get her out of here," Tony said to everyone.

"And what do we do with the other two?" Wanda asked.

"Let's just keep them both unconscious," Tony said.

"I still like the aluminum foil idea," Scott said.

"That doesn't even work on aliens," Sam told him.

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Scott replied.

"Hey fellas, do you think you could cut it out?" Nat asked. "You're not helping."

"I like the unconscious idea," Wanda said.

Wanda received a nod from Steve. They didn't have many options and she was offering the best of the suggestions.

"Do you and Vision want to handle Sin? And we can take Cathy?" Natasha said.

"Agent Romanoff, I do believe that Ms. Maximoff and I should be guardians of Cathy. We both possess the best means to restrain her should she wake up on our journey."

"I do not care who does what just so long as we get moving out of here!" Tony yelled.

Steve stooped, and despite the pain he felt in his own shoulder, he gently picked Sharon up. He cradled her gently, willing her to wake up. He wanted nothing more than to get her out of there and on the way to some kind of medical facility.

Both Tony and Steve moved through the sea of fallen robots towards the door and the remaining team got Sin and Cathy into a position where they could carry them out.

Sin began to squirm and the three around her stopped.

"Aw…you mad?" Scott asked.

The redhead was still gagged so she couldn't say anything but her eyes were dark and crazy with pure hatred for all of them.

"You shouldn't taunt my sister," Nat said. "That's my job."

"I still don't get it. How are you two related?" Scott asked.

"Our mom. But her dad is the Red Skull. The real one. By the way, do you see your crazy friend up there?" Nat pointed to the woman who was being carried by Vision. "Did you know she had done that?"

The unconscious woman's head bobbed back and Sin saw the full extent of what the serum had done. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

"I'm going to take that as a no," Natasha replied. "She's going away for a very long time and I do believe, dear sister, so are you. But I promise you'll have a nice little cell to yourself. I sure hope that sounds delightful."

Sin was riled up but could barely move due to her restraints.

"That's what I thought."

Nat, Sam and Scott followed Wanda and Vision out with their captor, Sin, and left the hundreds of robots behind.

"What happens if they come alive again?" Scott asked while they secured their prisoners in the quinjet.

"Hive-minded beings need to have someone to lead them. With both Cathy and Sin down, we should be fine."

"Should?" Scot replied. "You don't think we should blow them up or something?"

"You think we should blow up part of Spain's coast because of robots?" Sam asked.

"You want to leave a thousand, if not more, potentially dangerous robots unsecured in the building back there? We didn't even check the rest of the building."

"Steve, he's got a point," Nat said. "There's too big of a chance…" she trailed off.

Even though he was busy tending to Sharon, hoping for the miracle of her waking up, he was listening to the discussion happening. He nodded to Natasha. "We need someone or someones to say here," he said.

"Can't we just wait until SHIELD or Interpol gets here?"

"We don't need SHIELD…" Steve said. "I don't care if it's new and improved…"

"We should torch it," Tony said. "Then the problem is gone."

Sin shook her head violently.

"Do you need to say something, princess?" Tony asked. "Because I don't think I'm in the mood. I can start the…"

Sin stamped her foot and everyone looked at her.

"Let her speak," Steve said. "But it had better be good."

Nat removed the gag and they waited.

…

Author's note: what do you think? Let me know!


	28. Chapter 27

Author's Note: So here is the next update…it's only been five months… Well, I do hope you enjoy!

Aftermath

Chapter 27

"You! Start talking now!" Tony shouted at Sin as the gag was pulled from her mouth.

"If you torch this building, all the other ones that are linked up to it will blow, too," Sin said.

"What other ones?" Steve said, looking up from Sharon for just a moment. "How many are there? Where?"

"I don't know how many she's got rigged up," Sin told the group. "But I _do_ know she's done something that would cause a chain reaction," Sin said.

"She's lying," Sam shook his head.

"Let the witch read my mind if you don't believe me," Sin said in Wanda's direction. "Go ahead. I've got nothing."

"No," Steve said. "I believe you. Do you know if she's got all the plans here?" he asked.

"She probably has something socked away in that damn office of hers but she wouldn't let me in ever," Sin told them.

"Will you take Sharon back and make sure she gets the medical treatment she needs? I'm going back in," Steve told Tony.

"This is bullshit, Rogers. You can't…" Tony started.

Steve leaned down and kissed Sharon on the forehead.

"You get her to treatment, Tony," Steve said in a pleading voice.

"I'm staying with Cap, then," Sam said.

"No, Sam…"

"And how will you get back?" Wanda asked.

"We'll figure it out," Sam told her.

"That is not good enough," Nat told them.

"I'm not going to argue with you. You get back, get Sharon to a doctor, and keep these two locked up," Steve told them.

Sam and Steve moved out of the back of the quinjet in the next second.

"We'll be in touch," Steve said.

"All right, you heard Cap. Let's move," Tony shouted before giving a respectful nod to Steve.

The cargo door of the quinjet closed up and both Steve and Sam stood watching the jet take off.

"You didn't need to come with me," Steve said to Sam.

"Oh, hell yes I did. I have to make sure you don't do anything stupid. I also don't want Barnes to come after me when he's done with his cryo-nap if something _did_ happen," Sam smirked.

"Thanks, man," Steve said. He managed a small smile for his friend despite the anxious feeling that he had.

"Come on. We need to find the other locations and shut 'em down," Sam said.

Steve nodded. He needed to focus. He knew Sharon would be okay. She _had_ to be okay.

The two men moved back into the base and started to go through the deactivated robots.

…

In the quinjet, Tony had removed his suit and moved Sharon into it. FRIDAY would be better able to monitor her vitals and Tony would be free to pace nervously.

"You need to settle down, Tony," Wanda said as she watched him moving back and forth.

Tony stopped for a beat, gave her a startled look and continued moving once more.

Everyone knew that Tony considered Sharon a daughter and not being able to help her was infuriating him.

"FRIDAY?" Tony asked in a pleading voice. "Status?"

"Boss, she's got a steady heartbeat and my scans are showing normal brain function but she's got internal bleeding. She's needs medical assistance."

"How long until we can get to a hospital?" Tony asked.

"We can be in Barcelona in ten or we can be back at the compound in two hours," Natasha said. "I think we go to B…"

"New York," Tony said simply.

"Mr. Stark, I would advise that we go to the medical facility in Barcelona as it is the closest," Vision said.

"It's only ten minutes away," Scott offered.

"I agree," Wanda said. "She's just so pale, Tony."

"I'm going to Barcelona. I can call us in and make a rooftop landing on their helicopter pad," Nat said.

"And we'll be in a good location to be able to go back for Cap and Sam," Scott said.

"And what do we do with these ladies?" Wanda asked.

"We can drop Stark and Sharon in Barcelona and…" Scott began.

"We'll take them to Interpol," Nat said. "They won't be terribly thrilled to see me, but I'm used to it. Sin and Cathy can go into Interpol custody."

Tony groaned and shook his head. "You're all insane."

"You've already made your thoughts on us perfectly clear, Tony," Nat told him flatly.

"We'll go to New York and I'll make sure Sharon gets the best treatment in my facility and these two can be turned over to Ross or whoever. But I want to go to the compound."

"You need to be doing what's best for…" Wanda started.

"I _am_ doing what's best for Sharon!" he yelled.

The whole of the quinjet was silent.

"FRIDAY, put another jet on auto to the location of the base and let Rogers know its coming. Then, alert the medical team at the Avenger's compound that we're coming," he said in a more even tone. "Romanoff, take us to New York as quickly as you can get us there."

…

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Sam asked.

"To be honest? I have no idea," Steve replied.

"You know she'll be all right," he told his friend. "She would want you to be doing things the same way you're doing them. She won't be happy that she got knocked out, but it had to be done."

The two men were moving through the semi-darkness of the underground tunnels of the base. So far, they had found no doors, just more tunnels.

"How is your shoulder?"

"Hurts like hell, but I'll be fine," he replied. "I've been shot before. I just want to find a map or…something."

"It'll be all right, man. We'll find the office," Sam told him. "And she probably _did_ write it all down. Classic villain mistake."

"Captain Rogers," FRIDAY said into his ear.

"Copy, FRIDAY," Steve replied.

"Mr. Stark has had me send an autopiloted quinjet to you. It's en route from the Avenger's compound right now," FRIDAY told him.

"And where is their jet? Have they landed at a hospital yet?"

"They are an hour and a half out from the Avenger's compound. The medical team is standing by. Agent Carter is breathing and her heartrate is good. She's in the Iron Man suit for additional monitoring," FRIDAY reported.

"Thank you," Steve said as they moved further into the base.

"All the way to New York? Why…"

"His handpicked medical team," Steve said, cutting Sam off. "If Tony thought she wasn't stable enough, he wouldn't be doing this."

"He is the one who shot her…"

"Someone was going to have to knock her out of the hold Cathy had her in," Steve argued.

"You know, it's a bit unsettling that you're agreeing with Stark," Sam said.

"We'll always agree on Sharon's safety," Steve said.

He rounded the next corner carefully and feeling the wall in the dark, he felt a recessed door. "I think I've got something," he said.

He put his gloved fingers on the edge and used his strength to force it open. They were rewarded with an office.

Sam tried a couple combinations on the keypad next to the door and the lights turned on, illuminating the office.

A large portrait of the Red Skull hung on one side. Sam shook his head.

"That was one ugly dude."

"Yeah, it wasn't a great look," Steve agreed.

A large desk sat in the middle of the room. The desktop consisted of an engraved map with dates and locations marked up on it. The whole thing was covered in glass. Steve immediately noticed that the dates were all of Hydra's victories and losses, both big and small. The map even was marked with the location that Steve put the Hydra aircraft into the water in the forties.

"Are there any without dates? Or have future dates?" Steve asked as he quickly read through.

"No, none of them have…wait. Here," Sam pointed.

Steve moved to look where Sam was pointing.

"And here," Steve pointed.

"There's…one, two, three…eight locations total, counting our current coordinates," Sam said. "How are we going to deactivate these without even knowing what she's done?" he asked.

"We will find out what she's got here and we call in a lot of favors," Steve said.

"Do you have that many favors? I hate to tell you this, but we still aren't the world's favorite people," Sam said. "And seven other locations is a hell of a lot."

"Well, Sam, you know we have to try," Steve said. "FRIDAY, patch me through to Stark. I need to have him walk me through this computer."

"What is the plan?" Sam asked.

Steve set his shield down and found the 'on' switch for the computer on the desk.

"I'm going to have Tony walk me through hacking into the system. I think between the two of us, we can probably do that."

Sam sighed. "You know I'm with you, man. "You know it."

…

"Boss, Captain Rogers wishes to be patched through to you," FRIDAY told Tony.

"Just tell him I have no updates…"

"He's got something at the Hydra base that he needs you for," FRIDAY replied.

"Fine. Wanda, keep an eye on her?" Tony asked.

Wanda nodded. No one would tell Tony no at this point anyway.

"Rogers?" What do you have for me?" Tony said as calmly as he could muster.

"I need you to walk me through hacking into the computer thing here," Steve said.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Maybe I should talk with Wilson about this _computer thing_?" he asked sarcastically.

"Tony…" Steve's voice said in his ear.

"What exactly are you looking at?" Tony asked. "Step one: make sure it's turned on."

"That's a good life lesson right there," Scott muttered.

"The computer is booting up," Sam said, joining Steve on the line.

"Thank god you're there," Tony replied.

"As, I didn't think you cared," Sam said.

"Can you both focus?" Steve said in a reprimanding tone. "This computer could stop mass destruction."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked in a very concerned voice. "What did you find?"

"There is a map here of all the Hydra-caused destruction. And there are eight places on the map without dates," Steve said.

"Sounds like you stumbled onto something there, Cap," Tony said. "Is the computer on now? Please tell me it's running now because we would be talking more issues…"

"Tony," Steve said. "Please?"

"Stark, we are fifteen minutes out of New York," Nat said. "We'll be back to the compound in half an hour," she told him.

The remainder of the flight, Tony kept his eyes on Sharon while talking Cap and Wilson through hacking a computer's mainframe.

When they landed, Tony knew he was going to have to get off the line.

"Listen, they're taking Sharon…" Tony started.

"You help them," Nat told Tony forcefully. "We've got this."

"I can take over, Stark," Scott said. "I'm not going to be any good pacing in there anyway."

"All right, Rogers. I'm going in with Sharon. Here's Lang."

"Keep me posted, Tony, please," Steve said.

"Of course," Tony said before cutting the channel to his comm.

"All right, so where were we?" Scott asked.

…

A/N: let me know what you're thinking! Please!


	29. Chapter 28

Author's Note: So, once more I've failed to keep up with my writing. But, after nearly 6 months, here is a new chapter of Aftermath. I don't even know if people will read this, but hopefully, you enjoy the following chapter.

Aftermath

Chapter 28

Tony Stark was anxiously pacing the hall outside of the surgical room at the Avenger HQ. Every few moments he would walk down to the window to see what was happening and then he'd force himself to move away again. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to help and he wasn't good at feeling helpless.

He checked his watch. It had only been twenty-two minutes since they'd landed in New York. How could it only have been twenty-two minutes? Tony had no report to give to Cap and thankfully, he had no asked for an update. But Tony did wonder how Steve and Sam were doing with the computer system at the cave.

…

"FRIDAY, can you let Scott see what we're looking at?" Sam said to the AI.

"Of course, sir," FRIDAY replied.

" _Sir_ , huh?" Sam smirked at Steve. "I could get used to that…"

"Unless we figure this thing out, you won't have the time to get used to it, Sam."

FRIDAY activated the camera on Sam's goggles and connected it to the screen near Scott Lang. He studied what was being shown to him.

"It could be password encrypted, but if you select that…but it could also auto-detonate everything if you open it…"

"What should we do, man?" Sam said in an annoyed voice.

"We have to take our chances," Steve answered. "This is where I should click? You think this could be what we're looking for?"

"I do," Scott replied in their ears.

Steve reached out and with bated breath, he clicked on the program in question.

For thirty seconds, nothing happened. Nothing popped up on the screen and the cave didn't explode around them.

Sam looked around the room and then back at Steve.

"All right, Lang, what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"That has to be it. It just _has_ to be the one. Unless it's a dummy program. Just to stop people, but…"

"Lang, please focus."

Suddenly, hundreds of images flashed across the screen while the program seemed to load. The two men watched as the images flashed by.

"Was that you?" Sam asked as another image of Steve flicked past, followed by an image of Sharon. Images of them at Lake Michigan and outside of the cottage. The surveillance photos then changed to those of all of the Avengers, including Bruce Banner (who hadn't been seen since Sokovia), Peter Parker at school, and Thor and Jane Foster.

When the system finally loaded, the desktop showed eight blinking lights on a world map. They matched the locations of that were marked on the paper copy of the map, but this version included a detonate button in the center.

"We need to disengage this, Lang," Steve said. "What do I do?"

"They waited for Scott to respond and a time appeared. They had ten minutes and counting.

"Shit," Scott and Sam hissed at the same time while Steve sat in total disbelief.

"Seriously, Scott, what do we do? We have less than ten minutes now," Steve said. "Less than ten minutes," he repeated. "FRIDAY, patch me through to Tony."

…

"Boss, Captain Rogers needs to speak with you."

"No, FRIDAY," Tony replied. He was still watching the doctors working hard.

But it was too late.

"Tony," Steve said in an exasperated tone in Tony's ear. "It's counting down. I've got nine minutes before the shit detonates."

"Wait – what?" Tony yelled.

A couple of the nurses turned to look at Tony through the glass. Tony moved away and started to run through the halls.

"What happened?" Tony shouted as he moved toward his office.

"Lang got us into the program, but it started a countdown timer. Eight locations are lit up," Steve said.

It was just the two of them on the line.

"I don't have any updates, Steve," Tony said as he ran. "I'm sorry, I…"

"It won't matter in eight minutes," Steve said in an incredibly flat voice. "We just need to take care of this first and let the doctors keep doing their work."

Tony got to his office and burst through the doors.

"FRIDAY, show me what they see," he said to the AI.

His computer screen lit up and he saw firsthand the timer as it ticked away.

"Run schematics, FRIDAY. Find me a way in," Tony told the AI.

"Boss, without being uploaded…"

"Then do it," he told the AI.

"Tony…" FRIDAY started.

"Just _do_ it," he said. "We do not have the time."

FRIDAY did as she was told and through the net she wound her way into the computer in question. A minute and a half ticked away.

"Come on, FRIDAY, give us something," Tony said angrily. "C'mon…"

FRIDAY's work gave him access a second later.

"Okay, I've got control on this end now," Tony said.

Tony started to code when he could and after another minute, he realized it was actually all going to have to take place on Steve's side.

"You're going to need to do this, Steve," Tony said. "Or Wilson. Doesn't matter. But someone is going to need to do it over there."

"What has to be done?" Steve asked.

"The power source to the computer has to be cut at the same time that you run the code I'm going to give you," Tony told them.

"The power source for this computer is at the other end of the underground cavern you're standing in," FRIDAY said.

"I can go cut…"

"You stay here," Sam cut Steve off. "You and Stark figure this out. FRIDAY, you and I will take care of the power," Sam said. "I can fly, remember?" he said when Steve gave him a questioning look.

"Okay, gentlemen, I don't give a flying…just someone go. I just need you to take care of things," Tony told them.

Sam nodded curtly to Steve and pushed his wings out. He was gone two seconds later.

"All right, Tony, what am I supposed to do here?" Steve asked.

They had three minutes left.

"FRIDAY, how close is Wilson?" Tony asked.

"Eight hundred feet, boss," FRIDAY replied.

"Okay, Rogers, I'm going to do some work here and then you need to do exactly as I say," Tony said. "You wait for my word, all right?"

"I'm ready," Steve said back.

They now had two minutes.

"Sam Wilson, you have reached your destination," FRIDAY announced.

"I am in the middle of nowhere, FRIDAY," Sam said. "There is _nothing_ around me."

"The source of the computer's power is in the east wall. You will need to break into the wall."

"Wilson, you need to do this fast and you cannot destroy the power source. Just get to it. You have forty-five seconds," Tony told him.

Sam fired a shot further down the wall and started tearing away at the brick and cement as FRIDAY gave him directions.

"You have one minute remaining," FRIDAY announced to all of them.

"Where you at, Wilson?"

"Sam, please tell me you're to the power line," Steve said at the same time.

"Another couple seconds," Sam replied through gritted teeth while he pulled another chunk of wall away. "I'm almost…"

"There aren't any more seconds, Sam," Steve said. He was nearly dizzy with anxiousness, but he somehow kept his voice from breaking.

"Okay, I've got it. I'm here," Sam said.

"All right, we have thirty seconds," Tony said. "We only have this one shot," he added.

He glanced around at the map again. It included landmarks across the world, the former Avengers tower and even Peter Parker's high school. This lady had done her homework.

Tony launched into a mile a minute explanation and Steve focused to follow along. They were down to ten seconds.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…

Sam pulled the power cord from the box affixed and Steve and Tony pressed their _Enter_ keys. They waited for everything to take place – to blow up or something. But nothing happened and the screens in front of Tony and Steve went blank.

"Is that a good thing?" Steve asked.

"Is _what_ a good thing?" Sam asked. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Nothing. Screens went black," Tony said. "FRIDAY? What do you have for me?"

"I can happily report, boss, that the detonations were stopped – nothing occurred," FRIDAY said.

Steve relaxed in the chair and let out a long sigh. Sam slouched to the floor and Tony spun in his chair excitedly.

"All right, a quinjet is waiting for you. I'll send teams out to sweep the eight locations and you all get back here. I'm going to check on Sharon now," Tony said.

He ended the connection and forced himself up and out of the chair. He headed back down the hall.

Steve and Sam met up in the hall and Sam gave Steve a big smile. "We did it, man! Come on! We did good!"

"I know, I know. I'm trying to be happy, Sam, but…"

"Sharon is going to be just fine, Steve. You have to know that," Sam said, putting his hand on his buddy's shoulder. "Come on, we'll get out of here and get back to New York."

…

Tony made his way down to the medical unit once more. His face fell when the doctors weren't working on Sharon anymore.

"What are you doing? Keep working!" he said before he pounded on the glass.

One of the doctors came out to speak with Tony.

"Mr. Stark," the male doctor started. "Mr. Stark, Ms. Carter is going to be fine. She's going to need some recovery time – she had a significant amount of internal hemorrhaging, but we were able to stop it," the doctor said.

"Wh-what?" Tony stuttered in disbelief. "She's…all right?"

"She will be," the doctor replied. "She's going to be asleep for a while. What was she hit with?"

"One of my repulsor blasts. We had – I had…" he said, his voice breaking from relief and guilt.

"Mr. Stark, it's okay. We gave her a couple transfusions of blood and stopped the internal bleeding. She has a concussion, but like I said, she _will_ be fine," the doctor explained.

"Thank you. Thank you," Tony said humbly. "FRIDAY, how far out is Rogers?"

"Captain Rogers and Sam Wilson are two hours from arrival in New York. They boarded the quinjet three minutes ago," FRIDAY replied.

"Mr. Stark, you can go in and see her. She's out of the woods. Although, taking her to Barcelona would have also been an equally good option for immediate medical care," the doctor said.

"Listen, doc. I know you're the best. That's why we came back here. And you did an excellent job. Thank you," Tony said.

Tony reached out and shook the doctor's hand – something he normally avoided at all costs – and moved around him to go into the surgical room.

Tony walked into the room and let the feeling of relief wash over him. He took solace in the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

The nurses that were still in the room finished checking on the various other monitors and then vacated so he could be alone with Sharon.

"Hey, little girl," Tony said quietly as he walked around the end of the bed. "You scared all of us," Tony said. "And, I…I know I screwed up. A hell of a lot, actually. And this…I'm sorry I fired at you. But the doctors say you are going to be okay and I had to do something. You were under that woman's mind control and…just, don't scare me like this anymore. I'm so sorry about everything. I'm going to make sure things are put right. And you and Rogers can…I don't care," Tony said. "You're-you're all I've got left and I damn nearly killed you. But I promise you, Sharon. I'm going to make things right from here on out."

He leaned over, brushed some hair of her forehead, and kissed it before taking a seat on the chair in the corner of the room. He wasn't going to leave her side until she woke up.

…

Author's Note: So, do you forgive me and my lack of updates? I sure do hope so! Let me know with a review what you thought!

I'm going to finish this one, I promise!


	30. Chapter 29

Aftermath

Chapter 29

Sam Wilson was getting some sleep while the quinjet flew them back to the Avengers HQ in New York. Steve Rogers wanted to get some sleep, too; he was exhausted. However, his mind wasn't going to let that happen. Truthfully, he wasn't surprised, the adrenaline rush and the subsequent crash from it, was just too much, even for a super-soldier.

And now, in the silence of the quinjet, he had uninterrupted time to worry about Sharon. But he told himself that Tony would tell him if Sharon's condition was dire. He told himself that Tony wouldn't make him wait to know. But then he also knew that Tony would be just as devastated if something happened to Sharon and then more doubt filled Steve's mind.

Steve forced himself up and away from the seat he'd chosen so he could check on the GPS. They were still more than an hour away. Steve shook his head to try to clear his mind. It didn't work. He was going to need to find something to occupy his mind for the time being.

…

Tony Stark watched as the nurses came in and checked on Sharon again. They came in every few minutes and jotted down the readings on the monitors. All of them gave him sympathetic looks as they entered and exited. If they only knew how much actually meant to him – those sad looks would be ten-fold.

Sharon's heartbeat continued at a steady rate and the beeping made him finally drift off to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but the commotion next to him had him awake once more. Even in the groggy haze, he realized it was Sharon who was also awake and was causing the ruckus. She was trying to get out of the hospital bed. The nurse that had come to check on her this time was now trying to get Sharon to lie still.

"Miss Carter, you just suffered severe trauma, including a concussion. You need to remain in bed so you can rest," she told her.

Tony was now fully awake and moved to her bedside. "Sharon Carter, I know I haven't ever really been strict with you," he started. "But you need to do as you're being told right now."

Sharon froze. "But…" she said in barely more than a whisper.

"You did great, little girl," Tony said. "And now you get to rest up. You earned it. And you _need_ it," he said as he helped her back onto the bed. "You need to give my machines, and the nurses and docs, the time to get you all fixed up. You know, you got walloped pretty good back there."

Sharon said nothing as he fiddled with one of the machine at her bedside, but she did raise an eyebrow to what he'd said.

"All right, yes, it was me. I had to…there was no other…"

Sharon nodded. "I know," she whispered. "Thank you."

"I'm glad to see you awake, kiddo," Tony said. "Are you in pain or anything?"

"I feel like shit," Sharon said. "To be honest."

"The repulsor was only set to stun, you know. And you shot first," Tony said with a smirk. "And the fried look could be your thing, too. Looks good on you."

"I assume it'll be all the rage on the catwalks next season," Sharon said.

"See, now you're talking. It could be a whole new career for you."

"I think being a spy is still less dangerous than being a model, Tony," she said. "How are you? And the others…Steve?" Sharon asked.

He held up his hand. "Thanks to you, me shooting you to knock Cathy out of your head, and Rogers hacking her mainframe, we're all safe and sound. Well, as safe and sound as we all ever really are. Rogers and Wilson are on their way back now," Tony said. "I just wanted to be here with you, but I can go now so you can get some rest."

Sharon reached out and took Tony's hand. "No, please stay with me. Keep me company. You can tell me what happened after I was knocked out," Sharon said.

Tony sat down in the chair and nodded. He then told her all of their trip back to New York and what had to be done to stop Cathy's planned detonations.

"So where are Sin and Cathy?"

"I'm letting Romanoff and the others deal. You're all that matters to me right now," Tony told her, his voice almost breaking.

"Tony, I'm going to be okay. And I'm glad you are, too."

"So…" Tony said, trying to follow that without making things awkward, but not succeeding. He decided to kiss her forehead and then settled back into the chair at her bedside.

"So…what?" Sharon asked. "What kind of question will Tony Stark ask me today?" she said with a small smile.

"So…you're going to marry Rogers? Soon?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't had a lot of time to actually process the engagement."

"I'm not asking because I disapprove or because I'm trying to talk you out of it. I'm just asking," he said. "I know, right?" Tony said when Sharon gave him an interested look.

Sharon was quiet for a long pause.

"I see the wheels turning, little girl. What's going on in that head of yours?" Tony asked.

"I'm just tired," she said. She looked down at her hands and Tony looked to the doorway. Steve Rogers stood there.

"Well, now that Rogers is here I should go. I'm going to check on Sin and Cathy. I'll come back later to check on you, little girl," Tony said as he rose to his feet. "Good work, Rogers," he said to Steve as they passed one another.

"You, too, Tony," Steve replied. "Is she…is she okay?" Steve asked in a quiet voice.

"She's doing great, actually," Tony said. "I'll see you later, kiddo," Tony said to her with a quick wink. He was gone a moment later.

"Hey, you," Sharon said as Steve slowly moved into the room.

"It is nice to see you awake. You gave us all a pretty good scare," Steve said. "Tony said you're okay?"

"I mean, as okay as anyone hit with an Iron Man repulsor blast and had her mind played with by a crazy person," Sharon said with a slight smirk. "I hear you're a computer whiz now."

Steve laughed. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but we managed," Steve said.

"Having Tony Stark in your ear rarely leads to such good results," Sharon said as she laughed.

"It was a very successful group effort. Without Sam, I would not have been able to unplug the thing. She…"

"Classic Steve," Sharon smiled. "Always sharing your praise with everyone else."

Ignoring her comment, he continued. "Do you need anything? Should I get out of here so you can rest?"

"You're not so good at his part, are you?"

"I don't like feeling helpless. And you lying here in a hospital bed makes me feel helpless. I am totally useless here," he said, sinking down onto the chair that Tony had been using.

"I'm not sued to Captain Steve Rogers feeling sorry for himself," Sharon said. "No pity parties allowed. Tony tried to do that, too, and I am not standing for it," She said. "Figuratively speaking."

"All right," he said.

"What happened to the guy who was making me laugh before we left for DC? Remember him?" Sharon asked.

"Well, things…"

"Yes, you were shot and almost died," Sharon said.

"And you were shot by Tony and are now laying in a hospital bed. It's been a hell of a few days, Sharon," Steve said.

"It sure has," she agreed. "So what do we do now? What's your plan?"

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Honestly? No clue. I have no idea. My immediate plan was to stop the bombs and get back to you. And now, well, I'm…" Steve trailed off.

Sharon recognized the exhaustion in his eyes.

"You need to go get some rest, Steve. You need to take time for yourself. And make sure Tony's getting some rest as well?" she said.

"I don't want to leave you," he replied.

"I have a whole group of nurses and doctors that are going to keep coming in here poking and prodding me. At ease, soldier," Sharon replied, reaching out to touch Steve's hand. "I promise, I'm fine. And you can talk to Tony more – just the two of you."

"You know that despite us working together just now, the only thing that we agree on is you."

"Then start there. He told Ross he quit the Accords, Steve. I think he's getting it all now. You don't need to hold hands or whatever, but maybe you take your chance and talk to him. Because I'm not going to be able to travel for a few days, at least," Sharon explained. "So unless you're leaving me here, which you are welcome to do, you'll have to continue to play nice with Tony," Sharon said.

Steve knew she was right. No matter how much he didn't want to deal with the reality they were living in now: Tony, Ross, the Accords, or the world, he knew it was time for it.

"You're kicking me out?" Steve said.

"If I have to," Sharon replied. "But right now I'm just _asking_ you to get some rest," Sharon finished.

Steve nodded once. "All right," he told her. "I can follow orders," he said with a smile. "But I will be back later. I'm just going to find out about Cathy and Sin and get cleaned up. Have someone call me if you need me."

"I know," Sharon said. "I love you, but go on; get out of here," she said with a chuckle.

Steve chuckled as well before standing and leaning over to give her a kiss. Her heart rate monitor started to beep a little faster and a nurse popped her head in to the room. She cleared her throat and sheepishly, Steve moved away from her.

The nurse gave them each a disapproving look and ducked back out of the room.

"You'd better go before you get me in trouble," Sharon said with a laugh.

"All right, all right," he said as he threw her a smile. "I'll see you later."

He kissed her once more, quickly, and exited the room. Sharon watched as he stopped and talked to a nurse – a different one than just a moment ago – before he headed down the hallway. She knew he was giving her instructions to keep him updated on her condition without even having to hear the conversation. Sharon smiled to herself once more before closing her eyes.

…

"I had to say, I had more than just doubts that you'd be successful," Secretary Thaddeus Ross said to Steve and Tony.

They were seated in one of the conference rooms at HQ. Both Steve and Tony, who had taken the time to get changed and cleaned up, were next to each other and were facing Ross on the other side of the table.

"Oh, I am _not_ touched in the slightest," Tony replied.

"That's neither here, nor there, now, Secretary," Steve said. "We _did_ it. So what happens now?" 

"We have teams at all eight of the locations removing the detonation devices that were uncovered during your mission," Ross began. "And we're working on making certain that we have a facility secure enough to contain both Cathy Samuels and Sin Schmidt. And before you offer, Stark, we're going to handle this."

"Because you've done an excellent job of handling this so far?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"We still have to deal with what you've done after signing the Accords, Stark. You're not in a position to negotiate this now," Ross said.

"I would beg to differ, Secretary. You've said you had all this, but here we were, cleaning up the mess," Tony said. "Jump in any time, Cap," he said.

"I think you've covered everything I was going to say, Tony," Steve said. "I agree with Stark, Secretary. I think we're still the best people for the job. We're not going to turn them over to you until _he_ has okayed the security of the facility you've chosen. I think we're done here," he said to Tony before rising from his seat. Tony rose from his seat as well, gave Ross a curt nod, and the two Avengers headed for the door.

"You can see yourself out, Secretary," Tony said over his shoulder.

…

Author's note: I did it! I updated again! Yes! LOL. Anyway, you know the drill….


	31. Chapter 30

Aftermath

Chapter 30

Tony shook his head. "No, I don't think it's going to work," he said.

"You could shoot them up to Asgard," Natasha said as they looked over a model of a prison cell.

"I don't think Thor would like that too much, actually," Tony told her. "So, it's a viable option," he said with a smirk.

"So, what have we actually decided," Natasha asked him.

"Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch…"

"Okay, I got it, Stark," Nat said. "Barnes punched his way out."

"Buck had a metal arm," Steve said as he joined them. "Neither of the two in question, do they?"

"That was rhetorical, right?" Tony asked before tapping on the tablet in his hand. The model around them disappeared. "How about this one?"

Another 3D model appeared in front of them. Tony read the specs out loud as Natasha and Steve looked around at it.

Tony shifted and looked around. "Could be an option," Tony said when he'd finished reading the information to them. "I like that it's soundproof. Red's been getting on my last nerve. No offense to you…"

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"I'm just grateful that we get your dulcet tones versus her nails on a chalkboard. And have you noticed, it gets worse when she's mad?"

"How is the search coming then?" Steve interrupted. "Is this the one?" he asked, knowing full well that nothing had been decided.

"I just want us to take our time and not underestimate them," Tony told Steve. "There are a lot of options. How is Sharon?" he asked, changing the subject.

"She's doing well. But she's been wondering why you haven't been to see her," Steve told him. "Which I have also wondered."

"I, uh, just…"

Steve nodded. "You should go see her. She's really doing well. She's supposed to be out in a few days, actually. And you should probably see her while she's still supposed to be laying down."

"Yeah…you don't want her after you when she's mobile, Tony," Natasha said.

"I _will_ go see her when we're done here, okay?" Tony told them. "All right?"

"Okay," Steve agreed, nodding with a smirk.

The two men hadn't really talked since they'd kicked Ross out a few days prior, but the rift between them – the Hulk-sized elephant in _every_ room – seemed to be getting smaller. The tightness in Tony's chest was dissipating every single moment that they were all safe and sound.

They were going to co-exist in the world and the world _was_ actually going to be better because of it.

"I think we should just get this one built and we can all take turns testing it," Tony said while they 3D model surrounded them still.

"How long to be built?" Natasha asked.

"Couple of days, probably," Tony replied.

"I'll give it my all, Mr. Stark," Steve said. "Get it here and let's see what it can stand up to."

"I think we're all up for the challenge," Nat said. "Well, all of us, except for Sharon."

"I think the real challenge will be us trying to _stop_ her."

…

"I'm really okay. You can let me go now," Sharon said as she attempted not to whine. But she was going stir-crazy and it had only been ten days.

"Miss Carter…Sharon…" the very friendly nurse smile. "You know the docs want you to stay for a full two weeks for observation," she said. "You are healing well, but we don't want you to over-do it," she replied.

Sharon rolled her eyes. She wanted out of the bed, out of the room, out of the medical wing. Honestly, she wanted out of New York, too. But she knew it was doubtful that anyone would actually allow her to go. Not that it would stop her.

She hadn't seen Tony in several days. She figured now that everyone was out of imminent danger, Tony had gone back to sulking about her ignoring him months ago. She didn't actually blame him.

"Please, Lydia? Just to the end of the hall and back? I'm tired of counting ceiling tiles."

"Work on your crosswords," Lydia replied.

Sharon had actually done some of her brief nursing training with Lydia. She wasn't an agent like Sharon, but she'd come over to work for Tony – through Maria Hill – in the aftermath of the fall of SHIELD.

"You know I despise crossword puzzles," Sharon said through gritted teeth. "Couldn't you talk to Doctor Ryan about getting me out early?"

Lydia shook her head. "Nope. You need to take the rest while you can get it. Besides, you aren't missing anything, Share. You have visitors all the time and look, here's one now," Lydia said as Tony appeared in the doorway with a bouquet of fake flowers.

"Nice to see you, Mr. Stark," Lydia said.

"You, too, Lydia," Tony said.

"I'll let you be. Call if you need anything. And please, make sure she stays put, okay? No escaping," she said to Sharon. Sharon rolled her eyes again and gave her a sarcastic thumbs up. Lydia stuck her tongue out at the patient and exited the room.

"So, you're still an excellent patient, I see," Tony said.

"You brought fake flowers?"

"You hate real flowers in vases."

"I know. But you brought fake ones instead?"

"Won't die."

"Will need to be dusted."

"Get Rogers to do it," Tony said back as she sat down.

"So, you're done punishing me?"

"What are you talking about, little girl?" Tony asked. "Punishing you? For what?"

"…for running away and not talking to you," Sharon said as she looked down at her hands.

"I will never admit this again, so listen carefully: _I was embarrassed_. Too embarrassed to come see you. I had to shoot at you and while I knew the outcome was going to be bad, it was a hundred-thousand times worse. Forgive me?"

"Of course," Sharon said without hesitation. "Do you forgive me?"

"Done and done, kiddo. Done and done."

"So how are you going to get Pepper back? And we _need_ to talk about the spider-kid? In the onesie?"

Tony's face split into a full smile. "I knew I liked you."

"That kid is like twelve, right? And he was taking on criminals?"

"Mmm, more like fifteen," Tony said. "He's a good one. Smart. You'll need to meet him. I want to bring him to the team. And I'm working on some major improvements to your suit…"

"Are you making it some other color besides white? Please?"

"No, I need to be able to find you quickly in a fight, kiddo. I called your mother…"

"Oh, dear l…"

"Please, I didn't tell her you were injured. I told her you were safe with me. That's all. She's one of the only people in the world that are actually comforted by that…"

Sharon nodded.

"So, how goes the containment process for Thing One and Thing Two?" Sharon asked.

"The cell we like is being constructed right now. Should be a couple days. Other than that, they're being watched twenty-four seven. Once it's built, we're going to have at it. Do our worst."

"Has Cathy said anything?"

"We gave her a real fancy hat so she can't control anyone's minds. Mostly she just complains about that. Sin, on the other hand, she's just annoying."

"I would imagine so."

"So what have you been doing?"

'During my involuntary stay here in the medical ward? Shit daytime TV, some reading, plotting an escape route…"

"Planning your wedding?"

Sharon let out a bark of sarcastic laughter. "You are hilarious."

"What?"

"Not this again, Tony."

"I'm serious. You've gotta make an honest man outta Rogers. Do you think he'll want to wear the red, white, and blue to the ceremony?" he asked.

"I know you're saying words, but all I'm hearing is _blah, blah, blah_ …" she told him. "I can honestly say I haven't been thinking wedding at all. We need to make sure Cathy and Sin are done. And make sure nothing else comes up."

"Cold feet, huh? Are your little toes ice cubes? Do you want an extra blanket or a pair of those socks with the treads on the bottom…?"

"Okay, maybe I'm more like you than I really want to admit," Sharon said.

"We all know you love the guy and he loves you. But you're right – you don't need to rush into the wedding. And he'll understand that," Tony said.

"Did you hit your head, too? You're scaring me, Tony," Sharon said.

"I just don't want to push anyone else away. I don't know what else is coming our way in the future…"

"None of us do," Sharon stopped him.

"I just – you and I gotta stick together, kid," Tony said.

"You're going to make me cry, Tony," Sharon replied.

"Don't do that. If you cry, I'll cry. It'll be a whole thing," he said, trying to make the mood light again. "You just need to get better and stay better and then call your mother because I don't want to talk to her again for a long time."

Sharon laughed. "All right, I can do that," Sharon said. "I guess if you insist…"

"I do. I do insist. Because your mother is crazy."

"You are preaching to the choir, dude," Sharon said. "Can we talk about something else? You're really bumming me out."

"Yeah, we can talk about something else," Tony said. "We should discuss what you're going to do with the wee little house you hid from me."

…

"Please kidnap me," Sharon said to Steve later that day. The two of them were having lunch and after Tony wouldn't help, she'd moved to begging Steve to get her out of there.

"You know I can't go against doctor's orders," he laughed.

"I'm beginning to think you and Tony are forcing the doctor's hand a little," Sharon said. "I'm fine. Doctor Ryan said all of my results look good, but I'm trapped here _under observation_ ," she said holding up her hands in quotation marks. "You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

"I am not a doctor, Sharon," Steve said seriously. "And _I_ am not asking the doctor to keep you here. Stark, maybe. But I'd let you out – if the doctor said so. Maybe Doctor Ryan knows you won't rest unless you're forced into it?"

"The word _rest_ gives me an eye twitch," Sharon said.

Steve laughed. "You were able to relax all right by the beach."

"I would love a beach right now, "Sharon said. "I would mind laying out in the sun. But this room is making me crazy. They haven't found any after-effects of the mind-control and my _mild_ concussion is healed. Ribs fixed up. Bruises are fading. But this room is boring and blah and…I'm sorry. I'm the world's worst patient. I can't stand not being able to do things myself. And everyone has been so nice and taking fantastic care of me. I'm just laying here being a nasty person."

"No. I get it. But it's only a couple more days. Then you can go back to life as normal," Steve told her. "Speak of that, I wanted to talk with you…"

Sharon braced herself. She didn't want to have the wedding talk with Steve right then and there.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to go back to Michigan for a while until we're needed again or if you wanted to stay here."

"Oh."

" _Oh?_ What did you think I was going to ask? We're already engaged," Steve said.

"You're right," Sharon laughed with him. "What do you think we should do?"

"Secluded cottage on a lake sounds pretty damn good."

"But?" she said, knowing well and good that there was a _but_ coming.

"…But we probably should stick around here," Steve said. "At least for a little while."

Sharon nodded. She knew it was ultimately for the best, but it didn't make her miss her cottage any less.

"I've moved my stuff into a bigger suite – Tony actually suggested it. Do you still want to share a room?" he asked quickly.

"Of course I do," she smiled.

Maybe staying in New York wasn't going to be the _worst_ thing.

…

A/N: okay, no action in this one, but I thought it was kind of needed. Let me know what you thought!


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